Wildfire
by Viper Inferno
Summary: The tables turn on original hero Tuxedo Inferno as he is turned evil by Queen Beryl. He takes on quite a role as the bad guy, but does this end his rivalry with Titanius, or make it even more intense?
1. Chapter 1: Titanius' Strategy

Title: Wildfire - Chapter 1

Author: Viper Inferno

Genre: Action Drama

Rated: PG-13

Author's Notes: This is the fourth story in the _**Warrior of Fire Anthology**_. Therefore, I recommend reading Brother of Fire, Five-Alarm Fire, and Forest Fire before reading this fanfic, since they are part of a series and provide quite a bit of the background for this fanfic.

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**Wildfire**

_By Viper Inferno_

Chapter 1: Titanius' Strategy

_Dark Kingdom Headquarters..._

After a two week long session training in the use of his once dormant dark powers, although a week longer than he had earlier planned, Titanius emerged from the vast training hall with a newly found confidence in himself. After suffering an embarrassing failure at the hands of Tuxedo Inferno and the Sailor Senshi, not once but twice, and losing his favorite blaster gun in the process, he had no choice but to revive the dark energy he had suppressed for many years. But as he marched down the halls of the Dark Kingdom, motivation and determination erased the failure from his soul. Having accepted Queen Beryl's offer for money to fight alongside the Dark Kingdom once again, Titanius had taken it upon himself to destroy Tuxedo Inferno using any means necessary. Using every trick in the book to achieve his goal was his way. And that was his purpose as he approached his chamber.

Opening the large, heavy wooden door, he entered a rather ancient-looking room. The stone block walls, stone block columns, and cobblestone floor gave the room a medieval look. Many torches throughout the room lit the tan-colored walls, while many medieval-age weapons, ranging from swords and axes to flails and maces lined every wall and column in the room. Many full-plate suits of armor and iron shields complimented the medieval décor. A heavy wrought iron chandelier, candles unlit, added to the rather morbid environment. And thick, scarlet velvet curtains served not only to add to the décor, but also shielded the room from the outside light, giving the tan stone room the darkness that Titanius ravished.

Once inside, Titanius removed his armor, revealing his tight black long-sleeved shirt and tight black pants that he always wore under it. He then placed it on a special wooden stand he had designed specifically for displaying his trademark battle armor. He then sat on his scarlet chair, resembling that of a king's throne, and pondered his next great mission.

"So, how to lure the Sailor Senshi?" Titanius wondered, "I don't want a direct attack on the people since they always end in failure. That's why Queen Beryl had banished or killed the other Kings in the first place. However, why the hell did she bring them all back? I thought Nephrite and Zoisite were both dead. What did she do, raise the dead? I don't see why she had to bring them back if they can't even get the job done. Why else is she resorting to bounty hunters like me to do their work?"

"Oh what the hell am I thinking?" Titanius cursed aloud, shaking his head, "I need to find out how I am to carry out this next mission rather than questioning Queen Beryl's methods." Titanius rose from his throne and paced about his room, wondering his strategy. "Think, Titanius, think. You're smart. You're resourceful. You're a strategist, this is your specialty," he said to himself.

As he continued pacing, he caught a few glances around his room. But one glance caught a massive armoire. This armoire was rather plain compared to the rest of his chamber, constructed of the same heavy wood as his door, with the same two strips of studded iron across the middle. The handles for its doors consisted of heavy rings, much like those of a knocker. "Yes," Titanius said in delight, having remembered why he had that armoire, "If I won't use a direct attack, why don't I just blend in."

Having devised a scheme, he marched to armoire and opened the heavy doors, revealing a rather massive wardrobe consisting of various types of Earth civilian clothing, mostly men's. While training in the use of his powers, Titanius had made a couple visits to a few towns, collecting clothing, alcohol, and supplies he felt was essential for his stay on Earth. With his massive wardrobe revealed before his eyes, he began to browse. "I don't want to stand out, so scratch the formal clothes. But I don't want to look like scum either. A policeman's uniform will attract too much attention. Hell no to the women's clothes. Why the hell did I steal those?" Titanius turned and shook his head with that last comment, then continued browsing, "I just want to look like a regular civilian worker." Then, a particular piece of clothing, namely a pair of blue denim overalls, grabs his attention, "Yes, perfect. A lot of men dress like that for work."

After taking his time, he grabbed the overalls and a white T-shirt. He then grabbed a pair of socks and a pair of work boots to complete his outfit. Then, it was off with his black clothes and on with his civilian outfit. But as Titanius began lacing up his work boots, Kunzite opened the heavy wooden door to the chamber and invited himself inside. "Good morning, Titanius-san. I see you have completed your remedial training."

"Yes, finally," Titanius replied indifferently, lacing up his boots as if Kunzite wasn't even there, "It gave me time to think things over. That's why I took 2 weeks instead of 1." It took little time for the fact that Titanius wasn't in his usual dark clothing, but rather something more ridiculous for a member of the Dark Kingdom, to sink into Kunzite's head.

"Why are you dressed like that?" Kunzite asked, "Aren't you going to lure those Sailor Senshi like you said you were going to do after your training?"

"Change of plans," Titanius replied, "I'm going to go in as a civilian and interact with the people."

"What makes you want to drop down to their level?" Kunzite asked, wondering what is going through Titanius' mind, "You're a former champion of the Dark Kingdom, not some Earth lowlife."

"I'm gonna do a little experimenting and learn how to operate on Earth. This will help me complete my strategic plan. And I may get to wreak some havoc as well and do as I planned, lure the Sailor Senshi."

"I like that idea," Kunzite praised, "You know, some of us have actually been out there and done what you're about to do."

"Like Jadeite-san?"

"Yes, and Nephrite as well. Both were great at disguising themselves," Kunzite explained, "Nephrite disguised himself as a millionaire, while Jadeite posed as just about anyone. Even Zoisite-kun disguised himself as a woman, namely Sailor Moon, to trick Prince Endymion out of his Rainbow Crystals."

"Yes, I know all about Jadeite-san's escapades," said Titanius, walking back over to his armoire after lacing up his boots, "Care for some wine?"

"Yes, thank you," Kunzite replied. Titanius reached into the back of his armoire and grabbed a bottle of red wine. He then walked over to his throne and table, where he had a set of decorative golden goblets. Various gemstones, from rubies, to sapphires, to topazes studded each of them. Their fine cut and brilliant shine gave the goblets an even more expensive look. If anything in Titanius' chamber stood out as overly posh, it was the goblets.

"His failure was in his rather hasty execution of his strategy," Titanius continued explaining as he began work on removing the cork from the wine bottle, "He had to have the mass amounts of energy right there and then, which often left a trail of drained, lumbering people. Hence how Sailor Moon discovered his schemes and put an abrupt end to them."

"So how will your strategy be different?" Kunzite asked.

At that moment, Titanius had popped the cork from the wine bottle. He then brought it up to his nose and took a gentle sniff of the fine aroma the bottle's contents had sealed in it. "Yes," he said in a deep tone of pleasure, "The best Cabernet Sauvignon from France, aged to perfection. It's been a long time since I had wine like this."

He poured the wine into two goblets as he continued explaining. "The difference between Jadeite-san and me is both the way I devise my strategy and the purpose of this mission." After having filled both goblets with the fine red liquor, he lodged the cork back into the bottle grabbed both goblets.

"How different?" Kunzite asked, taking one of the goblets from Titanius' outreached hand.

"Well, I'll start out by choosing my target," Titanius began, gently whirling the red liquid around in his goblet, "I would blend very well into most places where people work. Then, I will study the methods of that target, and its weaknesses. After that is when the havoc begins." He paused for a moment, taking another sniff of the fine aroma emanating from his goblet before taking a rather generous sip of his wine.

"Is that all?" Kunzite wondered after having repeated Titanius' actions with his own goblet.

"I'm not finished. This won't be a sudden attack, mind you. I will have to plan this attack carefully, and execute it in concealment before the chaos begins. Remember, my purpose is to actually lure the Sailor Senshi. Jadeite was really good at getting their attention without even trying. I'll just do a better job of it, simply because I'll be getting their attention on purpose."

"It sounds like you have been giving this mission some thought during your rather extended training session," Kunzite acknowledged, taking another sip of his wine, "It sounds good on paper. But we'll have to see if it lives up to your hype."

"Believe me, it will. You'll see just how capable I really am," Titanius replied, taking another generous sip of wine, "It'll be fun wreaking havoc as a civilian. No one will ever suspect me, nor figure out who I am."

"I like your enthusiasm, Titanius-san. And I especially am starting to like the way your foul little mind is working," Kunzite praised, his chuckles growing into sonorous laughter. Titanius too joined as their laughs of pleasure filled the halls outside Titanius' chamber.

_Juuban Park..._

The morning at the park was marvelous. The wispy cirrus clouds were few and scattered, giving the sky its subtle yet captivating highlights. However, few were at the park to witness such a good morning. Such tranquility only made the park that much more beautiful that morning. But suddenly, that tranquility was broken when a flash of light overtook a secluded nook in the park. From that flash, Titanius had arrived at the park from seemingly nowhere.

Having regained his bearings from teleporting all the way to Tokyo from the Dark Kingdom headquarters, he glanced about his surroundings and began pondering his next move. It took little time for Titanius to realize that the park was rather sparsely populated. "Now how can I blend with the people in if there aren't any to blend in with?" he pondered as he walked about the park.

"Where the hell is everybody?" he asked no one in particular, "This is a park. There are supposed to be people here." As he continued to walk and glance about the park, he began to take note of his observations. Of the few people around the park, most were middle-aged or elderly, while the rest were college-age. There were no children playing in the park, save for one toddler, nor was there anyone wearing anything similar to what he was wearing.

"I knew I shouldn't have chosen work-attire when I haven't even chosen my target," Titanius told himself, "But why are there so few people? None of them are dressed like me, and none of them are children." Suddenly, with that last observation, Titanius realized why.

"That's right, it's Monday," Titanius said to himself, "Everyone is at their jobs, all the kids are in school, and here I am looking like a construction worker out here ditching work..."

He then paused as another thought hit his mind. With that thought, he realized he had chosen the right disguise after all, "...or a janitor." Having conceived an improvised strategy, Titanius began to make his way out of the park, "Now I have to choose my target and find a janitor job." With that, Titanius made his way out of the park, catching a few looks from people along the way, wondering why a man dressed for work isn't at work. Perhaps he should've brought two outfits, one for traveling around the streets of Tokyo, and the other for whatever job he was to infiltrate.

Luckily for him, just off of the park grounds stood a newsstand. "There's only one way to find a job around here," said Titanius, though only to himself as he grabbed a newspaper and tossed the vendor about 50 yen. "After my studies, I've found that newspapers contain just about anything that the people of Earth want to know. So what better way to get to know Earth than to read what's in the news?"

With newspaper in hand, Titanius turned around and made his way back to the park since few people were mingling about. There, a lone park bench provided for a perfect place for Titanius to begin his job hunt. Titanius took his seat on the bench and began browsing through the paper.

Almost immediately, he clinched his fists, nearly shredding the newspaper at the sight of a headline featuring Sailor Moon and the Sailor Team defeating yet another minion of the Dark Kingdom. "Damn those Sailor Senshi," he cursed to himself, remembering his last appearance in the news, "Why must they always meddle in our affairs? But at least I wasn't there to be embarrassed by the media again." With that reassurance, Titanius regained his composure and continued browsing the paper.

Next in the paper was the sports section, where soccer games and baseball news dominated. One particular story that randomly caught Titanius' attention was a headline featuring the Azabu Institute of Technology winning both of their soccer scrimmages. "Bravo," Titanius cheered to himself with obvious sarcasm as he immediately turned away from the sports section. And to his luck, Titanius stumbled upon the classifieds. "Yes, this is where job openings are posted," Titanius said to himself, "Now where can I find janitor jobs?"

Once there, Titanius began his search amongst the horde of open janitor positions. Many of the openings ranged from businesses, to stores, to offices. Many of the jobs required years of experience, which Titanius immediately dismissed since he had no experience to prove. With his search narrowed down, Titanius found a few entry-level openings amongst schools and hospitals. With many people as potential targets, and a sure-fire way to lure the Sailor Senshi, Titanius began browsing those schools and hospitals for the perfect janitor job. And suddenly, one particular opening caught his eye... at Juuban Junior High.

"Perfect," he said to himself, grinning mischievously, "What a perfect place to cause a little turmoil. All the kids will be in school, and I am already well acquainted with the grounds from my last battle. Yes! I have found my target." With his decision made, he folded the paper just as neatly as it had come from the newsstand. He then rose from the bench and made his way out of the park and toward the direction of the junior high.

In the city streets, Titanius found no problem navigating his way toward the school. Since he already knew the Juuban District from his previous visits, both during his battles and the few times he visited while training in the use of his previously-dormant powers. How else would Titanius have gotten a hold of his entire wardrobe of Earth clothes and a bottle of one of the best wines from France?

But all of a sudden, a girl rounded a corner directly in front of him and collided with him, knocking them both to the ground. Titanius rubbed the back of his head as he regained his bearings, "Hey, watch where you're going." He then looked up to catch a glimpse of the girl whom had knocked him over, having barely caught a blur of her before colliding with him. She was a rather lovely young lady, with long blonde hair pulled up in a pair of small buns resembling dumplings, and wearing a blue and white sailor school uniform and black mary janes.

"Oh, I'm sorry sir," said Usagi says as she gathered her books that were scattered about in the collision, "Oh, I'm gonna be late". Once her books were gathered, she turned back to Titanius and gave him a quick, yet low bow, "Please forgive me, sir."

Titanius only watched, bewildered, as the young girl ran off at high speed toward the junior high. 'She must be an athlete, like a track sprinter,' he thought to himself, 'She has to be the fastest runner I've ever seen amongst these Earth people.' He then continued his walk toward the junior high, obviously in no rush like Usagi was.

Once at the school, Titanius checked himself over to make certain he was as well-dressed as he possibly could be for work. He then walked through the school's front door, only to find the halls surprisingly empty. 'Hmm, school must've started already,' he concluded in his head, making sure not to look like a freak talking to himself. Titanius stood there, staring down each of the halls, pondering his next move.

"Can I help you sir?" a voice sounded from behind, startling Titanius. He looked back to see a blonde-haired woman in a blue coat and skirt. Titanius quickly regained his composure, trying not to look suspicious.

"Yes ma'am, I read in the paper about an opening for a janitor at this school," Titanius, ignoring how perfectly the woman's blue business dress fit the fine contours of her body, how her flesh-tone pantyhose highlighted her perfectly-sculpted legs, and how her black high heels accented her height and posture. It was a look that would've driven the sexual desires of many men. Yet Titanius was oblivious to it, meeting only her eyes as he replied.

"Go down that hall over there. The main office is on the right," the woman replied, pointing in the direction of the office.

"Thank you," said Titanius, making sure to bow to her while doing so. It was one of the Japanese customs and courtesies Titanius learned during his first visit to earth, offending quite a number of people before learning it. He then began his trek toward the hall after the sounds of the woman's high heels hitting the asphalt tile resonated down the halls away from him. 'Such great beauty,' Titanius thought to himself as he took a peek at the woman marching down the hall, 'Too bad I'll have to drain your energy too in order to lure those Sailor Senshi.'

Once Titanius had entered the main office, the secretary greeted him, "Good morning, sir. How may I help you?"

"Good morning, Ma'am," Titanius greeted back, remembering what little manners he had, "I'm interested in the job opening here for a janitor."

"And don't you look like you're ready to work," the woman commented playfully, "I'll go find the principal if you just take a seat. What's your name, sir?"

Titanius hesitated for a second. He didn't want to use his real name since it sounded too out of place. It took him a few seconds to come up with an alias. "My name is Tidusu Jacobi," Titanius replied.

"Wow, that sounds a little exotic, almost Hebrew," the woman complimented.

'Dammit Titanius, Japanese, not Hebrew', Titanius scolded to himself in his mind, 'At least I tried to make it sound Japanese.'

"Alright Tidusu-san, just take a seat, relax, and I'll go find the principal," the secretary said as she walked out of the office almost briskly, unburdened by her pink high heels.

'How do these women dress so seductively at a school?' Titanius asked himself as he took his seat, noting her white blouse and short pink skirt, showing off her finely built legs. But then, the subliminal message in the woman's delivery of her words overshadowed her looks, prompting an evil grin from Titanius, 'I got this job in the bag.'

_Dark Kingdom Headquarters..._

Later that day, Titanius arrived back at the headquarters, gleaming with joy as an evil smile highlighted his face. He had a rather successful day mingling with the civilians at the junior high and interviewing for a janitor's job. Afterward, he mingled with the people walking about the streets of Tokyo as they had gotten off work, wearing the same beaming smile as he was now. He had barely made it 6 feet inside the headquarters before he filled the halls, and seconds later the entire headquarters, with his thunderous and maniacal laughter.

Not a moment too soon, Kunzite and Zoisite walked into the front hall to see Titanius on his knees, laughing to the point of absolute insanity. They looked at each other in response, completely dumbfounded. "He's cracked," Zoisite observed.

"What's gotten into him?" Kunzite asked.

"Beats me," Zoisite replied. Titanius walked toward the duo on his knees, still laughing profusely, and took a firm grasp onto Kunzite's cape, putting most of his weight on it.

"I got the job," said Titanius, still with some insanity, "I got the job, I got the goddamn job at the junior high." He then dropped to the floor and began rolling on the ground, laughing. Zoisite looked back to Kunzite, circling his ear with one finger and pointing at the rolling Titanius with the other.

"I agree," said Kunzite. He then turned his attention to Titanius, who was looking up at him with an oversized grin and eyes the size of softballs. "You've been to the dentist's office, haven't you?" Kunzite commented, "Yeah that's it, you went there and huffed on the laughing gas, didn't you?"

Titanius merely nodded his head vigorously in response, "Uh huh," and continued to roll on the floor, laughing maniacally.

"Should we leave you and your insanity alone together?" Zoisite asked sarcastically.

After a few more moments of maniacal laughter, Titanius rose back up from the ground and regained his composure. However, his sheer excitement still drew out plenty of chuckles. "I'm posing as a janitor at Juuban Junior High where I battled Sailor Moon just over 2 weeks ago," he explained.

"Perfect disguise," said Kunzite.

"No one will ever suspect me when I start raising hell throughout the school over the course of days, maybe a week. That'll lure Sailor Moon and her pesky Sailor Senshi," Titanius continued.

"How will you wreak havoc?" Zoisite asked, "You wouldn't be able to do much if you send in a youma."

"First I'll cause accidents so I can clean them up and set some traps at the same time. Those traps will cause things in the school to go crazy. I haven't figured out what I will sabotage and how I'll make it go crazy. I'll know when I get there. I'll do it, though, and it'll keep on going until the students themselves panic and go insane. Then I engage some locking mechanisms on all the exits, trapping the students and teachers inside. That's when I start sending in youmas," Titanius lectured.

"Great plan," Kunzite responded.

"It sounds like one of Nephrite's tricks," Zoisite added, "He used an object to bring a person's energy levels to their peak before summoning a youma to drain their energy."

"Oh, but that's not all. Some time later when things seem to calm down, such as when the Sailor Senshi actually show up, I'll release another youma outside on the school grounds. It'll be one of my most powerful," said Titanius, "I will show myself only if my cover is blown, which is unlikely, or when the Mars Prince shows up."

"It's a truly ingenious plan," Zoisite complemented.

"Queen Beryl will be pleased to hear of your plan," Kunzite added as he and Zoisite turned and made their way toward the main throne room.

"This plan will work," Titanius said to himself, "I'll lure those Sailor Senshi for sure, all 5 of them." With such excitement over his imminent and diabolical plan, he once again filled the halls of the dark kingdom with his profuse laughter as he made his way toward his chamber.

_Next Day, Juuban Junior High..._

Titanius arrived at the school rather early, wearing blue work pants and a matching blue work shirt. Having chosen his target, and remembering his familiarity with the school grounds from his previous battle, he had chosen the perfect place at the school as a teleportation point. He had chosen a secluded grove just outside the school's main building. Doing this, Titanius could easily traverse between the school and the Dark Kingdom in little time. Although most janitors came to work before school started to begin with, Titanius arrived rather early at the request of the principal so that he would get to know the school a little better. Titanius had no problem with this, as he had no knowledge of the inside of the school. In addition, would help him in further devising his strategy to attack the school.

"Good Morning, Tidusu-san," the voice of a middle-aged man greeted him. Titanius turned to the voice to see a rather portly middle-aged man with a receding hairline and black mustache matching his salt-and-pepper hair. He wore the same blue working shirt and pants that Titanius was wearing, and had a rather large collection of keys hanging from the right side of his belt.

"Good Morning, sir," Titanius replied, not forgetting his manners as he bowed politely to his middle-aged co-worker. 'I can't believe I'm actually bowing down to such lowlife Earth civilians,' Titanius thought to himself in disgust as he rose, 'Remember, Titanius, it's just an act.'

"Come, Tidusu-san. Follow me. I'll show you around," said the middle-aged janitor. He then turned around and waved Titanius to follow him. Titanius followed very willingly, eager to see what kind of facilities this school had to offer. The man showed Titanius each of the classrooms on all the floors, reminding him that he would have to clean these rooms every week on Saturday after the half-day let out. He then showed Titanius the restrooms, both the boys' and girls'. He informed Titanius that these restrooms had to be cleaned twice a day during classes and again after school, and whenever an occasional accident occurred. He then showed Titanius the gymnasium, the adjacent locker rooms, and the showers, and informed him that they too had to be cleaned after school everyday. Last, and certainly the most important, the man showed Titanius the supply rooms that were scattered in strategic locations of the school, where all the tools and supplies pertaining to his job were located.

'Damn, and I thought that all the housecleaning my mother made me do was for nothing,' Titanius thought to himself. After the tour of the entire school, they found their way to janitors' office, where another had just arrived and was grabbing his supplies from his locker. "Good Morning, Ishakawa-san," the middle-aged man greeted.

The other janitor, a younger man who looked slightly older than a college student, turned to greet his co-worker. "Ah, good morning," he replied, bowing politely, "Is that the new guy?"

"Yes, he's starting with us today," the middle-aged man replied, "Ishikawa-san, this is Tidusu Jacobi. Tidusu-san, this is Ishikawa Kyoichi, one of the other day janitors here."

"Pleasure to meet you," said Titanius as he and Kyoichi shook hands.

"I'll leave you two to your duties," said the middle-aged man as he walked over to his desk toward the back of the office.

"I'll start with the first floor," said Titanius, "Is that okay with you, Ishikawa-san?"

"That sounds good to me," Kyoichi replied, "I never like working the first floor at the start of the day when everyone is coming in. I like the second floor myself before school, and then I move to the first floor once school starts."

"I'm glad I can be of help," Titanius commented. He then turned to leave the janitors' office.

"Oh Tidusu-san," the middle-aged man summoned, stopping Titanius dead in his tracks. Titanius turned around to see the middle-aged man tossing a rather large collection of keys on to him. Titanius caught them easily and clipped them to the right side of his belt. "You're going to need those," the man commented.

"Thank you, sir," Titanius replied as he turned back around and left the janitor's office behind Kyoichi.

Moments later, he arrived at the first floor supply room. Once inside, he grabbed a mop, a rolling bucket, and some cleaning solvents, and began his work. He knew he wasn't going to get to see much before school started, so he decided to begin mopping the floors at the western end of the school. As he mopped the floors, he managed to catch a few peeks through the doors of the various classrooms, taking mental notes of each room, their layout, and their contents. Although it wasn't much, any bit of information Titanius could gather could prove useful to his plans.

It wasn't long before Titanius made his way to the front entrance of the school, still mopping the floor as he advanced. And just as he reached the foyer, numerous groups of students began to pour into the school. With the students taking up much of Titanius' work area, he decided to pause and let the students make their way to their homeroom classes. Remembering his cover, Titanius put on the best happy face that he could possibly muster and greeted most of the students coming in. Some waved back at him, some jeered, and some just plain ignored him. After about 15 minutes of dealing with the crowd of students coming in, the crowd thinned out significantly, allowing Titanius to continue with his work. So he placed the mop back into the bucket and wringed it out.

Just as the bell was ringing to signal the start of classes, a girl burst through the front door and dashed through the foyer. "I'm late again", the girl yelled. As she sped through the foyer, she tripped over the mop bucket and spilled its contents all over the floor, causing her to hit the ground hard and drop her books and papers. Titanius heard the girl trip over his mop bucket and turned to see her wailing loud enough to be heard through half of the first floor and tears jetting from her eyes.

"Are you okay, young lady?" he asked, trying to cover his evil with concern.

The girl stopped wailing, and looked at Titanius, "Yes, I'll be okay. But I'm late anyway." She then turned away to begin picking up all of her belongings.

Titanius noticed her blonde hair pulled up in the shape of a pair of buns resembling dumplings. 'Hey, that's the girl I bumped into yesterday,' he thought to himself, 'So she goes to his school huh?' He helped the girl with picking up her books and then handed them to her.

"Thank you," she said, bowing to him politely. But as she rose, she caught a good look at man who helped her to pick up her books and papers. 'His face looks awfully familiar,' she thought to herself. It didn't take her long to realize who he was. "Hey, you're that guy I ran into yesterday morning," she said, "Hi, my name is Tsukino Usagi. What's yours?"

"My name is Tidusu Jacobi. I just started today," said Titanius.

"Pleased to meet you, Tidusu-san," Usagi replied, bowing to him again.

"So you're late for class, huh?" said Titanius as a thought came to his mind, something that he never thought he would ever do, even in disguise, "Come with me, Tsukino-san. I'll take you to class so you won't get in trouble."

"Lucky!," Usagi gleefully replied, "Oh thank you, Tidusu-san. You're a life saver." He and Usagi proceeded to walk toward her homeroom class. "You're such a great guy Tidusu-san," she commented..

"Hey, it was my mop bucket that caused you to be late in the first place," says Titanius, "And I probably made you late yesterday too when we ran into each other. So it's the least I can do."

Moments later, they made it to her homeroom class and opened the door, where the teacher waited to ambush the tardy Usagi. "Usagi, Usagi, Usagi, late again as usual," the teacher said with her usual disappointment, "Can't you ever make it to my class on time? You know the drill."

"I'm sorry, it was my fault that Tsukino-san here was late," said Titanius, "My stuff got in her way Miss...what's your name?"

"My name is Sakurada Haruna. And yours?" Haruna replied. 'Wow, he's a good-looking guy for a janitor,' she thought to herself as she caught a glimpse of Titanius' face once she had stopped paying attention to Usagi's tardiness.

"Tidusu Jacobi," Titanius responded, "I'm the new janitor here."

"Alright Usagi, you're lucky Tidusu-san was here to help. So I won't slap you with detention this time," said Haruna before turning back to Titanius, "Thank you, Tidusu-san."

'You're welcome Hothead-sensei,' Titanius thought to himself as he left the classroom, 'What a bitch. I like her.' He walked down the halls and back to the foyer where he had left the spilled contents of his mop bucket. 'God, what a mess,' Titanius said to himself, 'This is going to be a setback.' He then grabbed his mop and began work on sopping up all the spilled water and cleanser. With no students and very few staff walking about, and the wet floor signs placed about the foyer, Titanius had little trouble working to clean up the mess that Usagi had made.

Once finished, he gathered his cleaning supplies and walked back to the janitors' office. "Ah, Tidusu-san," the middle-aged man greeted as Titanius walked into the office, "I saw your work. You're doing an excellent job so far. You can take a short break if you want."

"Thank you, sir. What's your name? I never once got your name," Titanius asked.

"My name's Takeshi Kenji," he replied, "I'm the head maintenance professional here at Juuban Municipal Junior High."

"You're serious about me taking a break?" he asked, even though it provided him with an opportunity to grab a few things he needed for his master plan.

"Of course," Kenji replied, "You have it until 9:15, when 1st hour ends. Then you'll have some more work."

"I'm looking forward to it," Titanius said as he turned and walked out the door and toward the nearest exit. 'Really, I am,' he thought to himself, chuckling as he walked down the hall.

_8:52 a.m...._

After grabbing a few of his little gadgets and devices from the Dark Kingdom Headquarters, Titanius arrived back at the school to find some more work to do that would allow him to secretly plant them. These small yet powerful gadgets were designed to cause accidents and other disruptions and were remotely activated, allowing Titanius to cause disruptions in the school without anyone suspecting him. He hid the devices conveniently and perfectly in his large cargo pockets and marched straight toward the janitors' office. Once inside, he greeted Kyoichi and Kenji.

"You're back early, Tidusu-san. Good," said Kenji, "I assume you figured the rest of the school out on our tour this morning."

"Of course, Takeshi-san," Titanius replied, punctuating it with a nod.

"Good. The halls in the east wing need to be cleaned after classes change. Anything else?" Kenji ordered.

"Yes, would I get a chance to clean most of the school today?" Titanius asks, "You know, get to know the school a little better? I'm already familiar enough with it, but I just want to get to know it better, you know."

"I can probably arrange that. Sure," said Kenji. 'God, I love this new guy's enthusiasm,' Kenji thought to himself, inwardly grateful to the principal for hiring a man as eager to do a great job as Tidusu Jacobi, 'His name sounds a little foreign, but he's the hardest worker I have.'

With his task given to him, Titanius grabbed a push duster, a broom and dustpan, a bucket and mop, and some cleaning solvents and took his time wheeling them toward the east wing of the school. It wasn't long before the bell rang to signal the end of homeroom classes. And right as the bell rang, large numbers of students began filing out of their classes, causing random traffic jams throughout the school. Some of the students took their time between classes to chat amongst themselves, while others ogled at the random hot guy that walked by. Titanius decided to just stand there against the window as most of the students walked around him and to their classes, just as he had done when school started.

"Good Morning, Tidusu-san." A young girl's voice called out to him. Titanius looked behind him to find Usagi wearing a sunshine smile and waving to him as she walked by him and toward her class

Titanius gladly waved back in response and watched as the lovely young blonde with the dumpling hairstyle disappeared into the crowd of students. 'Is there actually good in me?' Titanius wondered, remembering that it was he who had helped the desperate girl with getting to her class and keeping her out of detention. But then he remembered why he was at the school, living and working amongst Earth civilians. 'Nah!' he thought to himself with an evil grin.

With all the students having made it to their classes, Titanius grabbed his push duster and immediately began to work on the east wing, studying the very details of the halls and anything seemingly insignificant.

Sometime later, after finishing with cleaning the floors of the entire east wing, Titanius grabbed his cleaning supplies and made his way toward the north hall of the school, doing his best to at least look dedicated to his duty. After all, he didn't get this job just to sit around. Once there, he grabbed his push duster and began sweeping up and down the halls, taking notes of all the rooms he walked by. Then, halfway down the hall, he stopped as he noticed a rather empty room, except for a rather large number of computers. Titanius looked up at the sign, which read "Computer Lab".

'Ah, computers. What a perfect place to start some chaos,' Titanius thought to himself as he went back to his cleaning supplies. He grabbed them and made a beeline to the computer lab. Since the room required very little cleaning, Titanius haphazardly swept the floors, using it to make his way toward a computer close to the center of the room. Once there, he extracted one of his electromagnetic scrambling devices and hid it underneath the computer. Once the device was in place, he finished his haphazard sweeping and left the computer lab, only to notice a class heading straight in his direction. Casually grabbed his cleaning supplies and continued with his cleaning of the north hall, catching a few peeks at the group of students as they entered the computer lab.

"Damn," he cursed under his breath as he swept, "I wanted to zap those computers today. Oh well, I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow. I'll just use the rest of the day to plant bugs in other parts of the school."

But as he finished sweeping the north hall, he realized just how easily he had planted his scrambling device. 'I don't need accidents to set my devices,' he thought to himself as made his way back down the north hall and toward the janitor's office. Moments later, the bell rang again to signal a short break after the second hour class. Knowing what kind of crowd would be filling the halls, Titanius took his seat on a chair in the foyer and watched as the students packed the halls on their way to their next class. While there, he took his time to plan his ongoing mission. 'Hell, with how easy this is turning out to be, I can make this go quicker. I really don't need to take my time,' Titanius realized.

At the end of the day, Titanius sat in the janitors' office to unwind. Throughout the day, he had been busy sweeping and mopping the halls of the school, as well as a few empty rooms. And while doing so, he had planted his various devices in strategic locations throughout the school, in areas where tripping them would cause noticeable accidents. It was his hope that these accidents would cause chaos throughout the school for his youma to feed on the energy generated by their panic. As he sat there, unwinding from his busy day, and mapping out his mission in his head, Kenji walked into the office.

"Ah, Tidusu-san. You did great on your first day," he commented.

"Thank you, Takeshi-san," Titanius replied. 'Dammit, you bastard. I wish I could just scream it out to you. I'm a warrior, not a janitor,' he thought to himself.

"You can leave if you want," said Kenji, "School's almost out and Ishakawa-san will get everything ready for the night janitor. So take the rest of the day off."

"Thank you, Takeshi-san," said Titanius as he gratefully took Kenji up on the offer. He rose from his chair and left the janitors' office, then made a beeline for the nearest exit out of the school where his portal to the Dark Kingdom awaited.

_Dark Kingdom Headquarters..._

After getting to a good start with setting the school up for his energy-gathering and Sailor Senshi luring mission, Titanius arrived back at the Dark Kingdom's headquarters and immediately marched to his chamber. His first agenda upon his arrival was to get out of his civilian attire and to change back into his armor. "Dammit, I'm a bounty hunter, not some lowly Earth civilian," Titanius cursed as he discarded his civilian uniform with a violent throw toward his armoire.

Once he donned his favorite black and red armor and red satin cape, he left his chamber and marched toward Kunzite's chamber. His riding boots echoed throughout the halls of the Dark Kingdom, making his return from his mission well known to all its inhabitants. He quickly arrived at Kunzite's chamber and immediately banged on his door with much aggression.

"What do you want?" Kunzite's voice yelled from inside.

"To discuss my progress," Titanius sharply responded.

"Get in here," Kunzite half-drunkenly said. With that invitation, Titanius opened the large, heavy wooden door and walked inside. He found Kunzite sitting at his large wooden desk, planning a mission of his own. His well-lit desk resembled that of a large drafter's desk. Kunzite had various schematics for some of Tokyo's various buildings. And as he studied them, he mapped out his battle plans on a sheet of parchment.

"Planning an attack of your own, are you?" Titanius asks, wondering why Kunzite was planning a mission while his is already in action.

"Yes, I'm planning a back-up mission to lure the Sailor Senshi just in case yours back fires," Kunzite replied.

"You know as well as I do my plan will succeed," Titanius responded, stepping forward and standing his ground.

"How's it going so far?" Kunzite asks.

"Well, I'm actually making some excellent progress," Titanius explained, "I've already set a few devices in various inconspicuous, somewhat insignificant, yet strategic locations. Tomorrow, I'll rig the main power, the fire alarms, and install the locking mechanisms. Thursday, I'll cause a power outage and disintegrate the device to erase evidence. It'll take some time to get the power back on. Friday, I'll set off the fire alarms and as the kids start scrambling, I'll set off the smoke devices. It'll be then that I signal you to release my youmas in the school. I'll only need two of them."

"So you really are making this into an energy gathering mission as well, as an added bonus," Kunzite commented.

"Why not?" Titanius replied, "Queen Beryl-sama will want to pay me more for it when I succeed."

"It's a great plan, Titanius-san," Kunzite commented as he wadded up his parchment, "Looks like I won't need mine. I couldn't come up with a mission better than that."

Titanius turned and walked toward Kunzite's door. Once there, he turned back to the silver-haired King, "Thursday, chaos at the junior high will begin." With that last line, he left Kunzite's chamber, with his maniacal laughter resonating throughout the halls of the Dark Kingdom.

_end of chapter 1_

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Disclaimer: As usual, Sailor Moon and most of the characters ain't mine, but belong to Naoko Takeuchi. And God bless that woman for creating such great entertainment for all of us with a lot of free time on our hands to enjoy. The English dub belongs to DiC Entertainment and Cloverway, and I only thank them for bringing' it to America, nothin' more. But Russell Hino/Hino Kyodai, Tuxedo Inferno, Titanius, and Deanna Kokorono/Kokorono Meijin are MINE (in a growling voice). So, please don't sue me. I'm just a lonely man who ain't got anythang but his pride. Well, y'all enjoy this fanfic and e-mail me.

Have fun Sailor Moon fans,  
Viper Inferno  
(Y2V)


	2. Chapter 2: Let the Madness Begin

Title: Wildfire - Chapter 2

Author: Viper Inferno

Genre: Action Drama

Rated: PG

Author's Notes: This is the fourth story in the _**Warrior of Fire Anthology**_. Therefore, I recommend reading Brother of Fire, Five-Alarm Fire, and Forest Fire before reading this fanfic, since they are part of a series and provide quite a bit of the background for this fanfic.

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**Wildfire**

_By Viper Inferno_

Chapter 2: Let the Madness Begin

_Thursday..._

Titanius arrived at the school early, as usual, wearing a black t-shirt and rather baggy blue cargo pants. The numerous oversized pockets allowed him to hide a vast number of his little gadgets that he was to plant about the school that day, thus completing his bugging of the school. In addition, he carried a small remote control that he would use to set off the devices he had originally planned to set off in order to create some dismay throughout the school. He didn't even bother to check in with Kenji, but rather grabbed a large tool belt from the janitors' office and immediately proceeded toward a nearby supply closet. Since he had only installed half of the locking mechanisms on the doors the day before, he had to finish bugging the rest of doors so that he could properly carry out his mission.

Upon arrival at the supply closet, he grabbed a few of the new door knobs and locks that had been shipped in at the beginning of the week and immediately began to make his way toward the nearest exterior door. Once there, he set the new locks and knobs down, grabbed some tools, and proceeded to remove the old latch and lock from the door. Having already done this job multiple times the day before, he quickly disassembled the door hardware and set it aside. He then removed the new hardware from their boxes, and then looked around to make sure no one was watching, especially with students having been walking around the halls and on their way to their classes. Assured that he was alone, he reached into one of his left pockets and extracted one of his self-powered electromechanical locking mechanisms.

The locking mechanisms themselves were rather small, which made them relatively easy to hide inside the door along with the door hardware. They used a series of gears and electric motors to engage the door locks when triggered by remote control. They were powered by small marble-sized energy balls provided to him by Jadeite from a previous energy-gathering mission. The combination of both the electro-mechanicals and dark energy contained within the devices rendered the door hardware much more powerful than even a thick deadbolt, and were products of pure genius on Titanius' part. With his devious device in hand, he carefully attached it to the new lock and went to work on installing it onto the door.

"Working on the locks, are you, Tidusu-san?" a voice said to him from behind, startling him. Titanius turned around to see Kyoichi with a rather inquisitive look on his face. 'God, I hope he didn't see me bugging this door,' Titanius said to himself.

"Yeah, I didn't get to finish fixing all the locks yesterday," Titanius casually responded, "So I'm finishing up now while I have plenty of time."

"That's good, because Sensei wants them all done by the end of homeroom hour," said Kyoichi as the bell signaling the beginning of class began to ring, "You've only got a little over an hour."

"Thank you, I'll be done before then," said Titanius.

With Kyoichi gone, he finished installing the bugged door hardware and then grabbed his supplies and proceeded on to the next door that he had missed the day before. With all the students in class, rigging the last of the doors in secrecy was a cinch for Titanius. And a half-hour later, with plenty of time to spare after rigging the last door, Titanius looked all around him and paused as a class was walking the hall toward one of the science labs. And as soon as that class had disappeared, Titanius withdrew his universal remote control and turned back to the door. He set the control for the door locks and tested the locking mechanism. At the press of a button, the door immediately locked. He tried the door knob, and it wouldn't budge. And then he slid one of his endless array of keys into the double-cylinder deadbolt and tried it, and it too failed to even budge, let alone unlock. "Perfect, they work," Titanius said to himself as he pressed the button again, releasing the door lock.

With that portion of his mission setup completed, Titanius grabbed the rest of the old door hardware and made his way down the hall and back toward the janitor's office. On his way, he passed by the computer lab that he had rigged earlier in the week. And immediately, he noticed that it was completely unoccupied. He checked his watch for a good time to set off his first trap, and to his surprise, that time was quickly approaching.

'Perfect,' he thought to himself. So he extracted his controller, set it to the computer lab bug, and activated the device. And in an instant, it began to fire bolts of lightning throughout the computer lab, causing every computer to overload, shoot sparks, and crash. The lights in the room went out for a few seconds as the computers were being fried, as well as the lights throughout the rest of the school. After doing its job, the device disintegrated into ashes, erasing the evidence. 'What a perfect crime,' Titanius thought to himself, 'Phase one, complete. Phase Two begins after lunch.' Satisfied with the results, Titanius quickly hid the controller in his pocket and immediately headed back toward the main hall toward the janitors' office, trying not to look suspicious.

_Lunch..._

Ami and Usagi sat together on the roof of the school, eating their lunch and sharing a friendly conversation with one another. It was something that they often enjoyed together at school, especially since Ami and Usagi were in different classes. Even Usagi and Makoto, also in different classes, often enjoyed lunch together, especially since Makoto always had some of the best lunches amongst all the students. But Makoto wasn't sitting with them that day, so it was just Ami and Usagi sharing their lunch and their thoughts with one another. As usual, Usagi devoured her oversized lunch in a matter of seconds.

"Hungry girl, aren't you?" Ami commented.

"Gotta eat to live. Must eat," Usagi responded while she gulped down the rest of her lunch.

"That's 'Eat to live', Usagi-chan, not live to eat," Ami responded.

Usagi quickly finished off her lunch and turned back to Ami, who was busy finishing her ham & cheese sandwich that her mother had left for her. Sandwiches were always Ami's favorite, especially because she could eat them in the middle of her studies without deviating. And with her mother usually on call at the hospital, either she or Ami would always make sandwiches for her to bring to school since they were easy to both make and keep in the refrigerator.

"Did you hear what happened in the computer lab?" Usagi asked, trying to start a little gossip with Ami.

"Yes, all the computers are dead. It's like a big power surge destroyed all the circuitry," Ami replied.

"But the power never went out," Usagi argued.

"I know. It could've been a computer virus," Ami theorized, "But then how does a virus affect every computer and even burn the circuitry themselves?"

"Someone may have done it on purpose," Usagi suggested.

"Sabotage?" said Ami, "That's the best theory I've heard coming out of you. I guess you do have a little brainpower in you."

"Thanks Ami-chan," Usagi praised, quite proud of herself. After sharing a little laughter with Ami, Usagi quickly started a new subject. "Oh, did you hear we got a new janitor this week?" she asked.

"Yes, I've noticed him a couple of times. I was wondering who he was," Ami replied.

"Yeah, his name's Tidusu Jacobi-san," said Usagi.

"His name sounds rather foreign," Ami commented, "It sounds like he's either Israeli with a Japanese surname, or Japanese with a Hebrew name."

"Whatever," Usagi commented, ignoring Ami's theory, "But he seems like such a cool guy."

"How so?" Ami asked, wondering why Usagi was actually showing interest in an adult.

"Well, he sort of saved me from detention a few days ago," Usagi answered.

"Well, that still doesn't encourage you to always be late to school, Usagi-chan," Ami argued, "He can't be there all the time to bail you out."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Usagi sighed in defeat. "But if he were a teacher, I'd rather have him than Haruna-sensei."

"You do have a point there," Ami replied.

After a while, with lunch coming to an end, the girls stood and made their way back inside to join the crowd of students as they returned to their classes.

"I'll see you at Rei-chan's after school," said Ami as they made it down to the second floor.

"What about Kyodai-san?" Usagi said, stopping Ami. "He can't know about us."

"Rei-chan said that he was gone for the week with his Physics class," Ami explained, "So we'll be fine."

"I understand. I'll see you after school. Bye, Ami-chan," said Usagi. And before Ami could respond, Usagi took off like a gazelle toward her class. Meanwhile, Ami only casually took her books and confidently walked to her class, knowing she had plenty of time.

'Poor Usagi-chan, she makes such a habit of running to her classes,' Ami thought to herself as she quietly walked around some of the students on her way to her class.

_Half-an-hour later..._

Titanius mopped the floors of the cafeteria after the benevolent teenagers created a rather lovely mess, trying to look proud to be doing so. Although messes in the cafeteria after lunch were common, Titanius always found it to be a hindrance to the real reason that he was working at the junior high. 'How the hell do these kids always manage to make such a mess in such a short amount of time?' he thought to himself after he finished cleaning up a juice spill.

After cleaning up most of the cafeteria, he looked around both the inside and outside the cafeteria to make sure no one was around. He then checked his watch to make sure that the window to execute Phase Two of his plan hadn't passed him by during his cleaning of the messy cafeteria. With nobody in sight, and since the school had no security cameras, he pulled out his universal controller and set it to activate a number of the devices he had rigged throughout the school.

"Let Thursday Turmoil begin," he said to himself as he pressed the button, activating the scrambling devices on the main transformers. In an instant, the power throughout the school surged, causing the lights all over to glow really bright. A large number of fluorescent lights throughout the halls, and even inside some of the classrooms blew, some of them into pieces. Even the transformer itself blew, causing the power to finally cease, leaving the entire school in darkness, except for a few of the emergency backup lights. Titanius then pressed another button, causing all of the emergency lights to blow out and their battery packs to overload and smoke. Then, after having completed their jobs, the devices disintegrated, eradicating all evidence of sabotage.

With the school completely dark, Titanius quietly slipped his controller back into his pocket, and then acted surprised from the power outage. However, with the school completely dark away from any windows, Titanius found it troublesome to navigate the school. 'Damn, I should've thought about that,' he thought to himself. As he slid along the walls of the darkened hallway, trying to navigate purely by touch, Kenji finally discovered him with his flashlight in hand. "Are you alright, Tidusu-san?" he asked.

"Yeah. That power outage spooked me out a little, but I'm fine," Titanius replied, lying of course about being spooked.

"Tell me about it. Even the emergency lights blew out, I can't believe it. Are you an electrician, by any chance?" Kenji curiously asked.

"Unfortunately, that's one thing I don't know how to do," Titanius quickly answered, lying of course since he was the one who rigged it to blow in the first place.

"Well, I'm gonna have to call some electricians and see if they can find out why the power went out," said Kenji, "Be careful out here." He then walked by Titanius and continued down the halls as handfuls of students began to roam about, some socializing with one another. 'Perfect,' Titanius thought to himself, completely assured that everything was going as just as he had planned, 'Their energy is rising. And tomorrow, there will be total chaos. And my youmas will have plenty of energy to steal. If that doesn't lure those damned Sailor Senshi, what will?' Satisfied with the results, he casually walked through the dark halls to the janitors' office, bumping into a few students along the way. Once there, Kyoichi met him at the door.

"Here Tidusu-san, take this," he said as he handed Titanius a flashlight, "You'll need it."

"Thank you, Ishikawa-san," Titanius replied as he took the flashlight and continued his walk about the halls. There, he observed all the students as they took advantage of the power outage, taking note of each of their apparent energy levels. The power remained out throughout the day. And at the end of school, the principal announced the end of classes over a megaphone all down the halls, sending the students home for the day. Titanius, along with the other janitors and some of the teachers, held their flashlights as they guided the students through the dark halls and out of the building, thus preventing any unnecessary accidents.

_Outside the school..._

After school, as promised, Usagi and Ami met up at the front gate of the school and began their walk toward the Hikawa Jinja. They stayed relatively silent in their walk since a number of other students were walking in close proximity to them, though not quite following them. So any mention of a Sailor Senshi meeting would've had to wait until they had gotten away from the other students.

Finally, after walking some distance from the school, the duo was alone after the last of the other students turned on a street corner. "Weird day," said Usagi, starting the conversation by making reference to the day's events.

"I agree," said Ami, "I can't believe that we not only had the computers go out, but we also had a power surge, and then a major power outage to where even the emergency lights were blown out."

"Well, at least it made the day a lot easier," Usagi commented, trying to look on the bright side of the chaotic day.

"Well, Rei-chan called me while I was waiting for you. She went home from her school early, and she's doing a fire reading right now," Ami said, changing the subject.

"I wonder what we're gonna talk about this time, other than whatever she finds?" Usagi curiously asked.

"There really hasn't been any action since Saturday," Ami replied, "Unless Rei-chan finds something, there may not be anything to talk about."

"Except that it was the third time we saw Jadeite since we beat him at the Haneda Airport way back after we met Rei-chan," Usagi added.

"I wonder why he was gone for so long and only recently started showing up again?" Ami wondered.

"And Zoisite too," Usagi added, "We haven't seen him since we obtained the Silver Crystal and discovered my identity as Princess Serenity."

"And if that isn't enough, Nephrite seems to have been risen from the dead," Ami continued, "I thought that Zoisite had killed him earlier this fall. And all this has been happening in the last couple months. Something weird is going on that all our old adversaries are coming back, as if Kunzite wasn't enough."

"So maybe we do have something to discuss at our meeting after all," Usagi concluded, "That is, unless Rei-chan finds out what is going on."

_Hikawa Jinja..._

After their leisurely walk, and with the reappearance of the rest of the Shitennou on their minds, the duo made it to the Hikawa Jinja. However, upon their arrival, they discovered Kyodai's old Datsun coupe sitting right next to Gabianni's Toyota sedan near the temple steps. Usagi jumped up at the sight of his car, with her eyes three times their normal size. "What?! I thought Kyodai-san was gone," Usagi said sharply, with her anxiety shooting through the roof, "Oh God, what do we do now? If we hold our senshi meeting here, Kyodai-san will find out who we are for sure."

"Relax Usagi-chan," said Ami, "Rei-chan said that he didn't need his car."

With that easy explanation, Usagi let out a sigh of relief and calmed herself down. They then casually walked up the temple steps and toward the living area. They then walked through the front door and slipped their shoes off at the door. "Hello, Rei-chan? We're here," Usagi announced, then discovered that both Minako and Artemis were already sitting at one side of the table, waiting on both them and Makoto.

"At least Usagi's on time," Rei maliciously commented, glaring at Usagi.

Usagi immediately clinched her right fist and put her left foot forward with authority, "You got a problem, Rei-chan?"

"No. It's just that you're always late for a senshi meeting," Rei scornfully responded, "No 'leader' would constantly be late for their senshi meetings."

"Hey, I was on time," Usagi yelled, with her head growing to twice its normal size.

"Good, then keep it that way," Rei ordered.

"Usagi-chan. It's not worth it," Ami said, placing her hands on the sides of Usagi's shoulders to both hold her back from Rei and to calm her down. Usagi then let out a discontented sigh, loosened up, and took her place at the table next to Minako. Ami too took her place, sitting down on her knees at side of the table next to the side that Minako and Usagi were sitting and across from Rei.

Moments later, Makoto walked through the front door with Luna in her arms and slipped her flats off at the door next to everyone else's. "Wow, Usagi-chan. You're actually on time," Luna commented.

"Yeah, aren't you proud of me?" said Usagi. Luna then jumped down from down from Makoto's arms, ran to Ami, and hopped up into her lap. "Since everyone is here, and we don't have to wait on Usagi-chan, shall we begin?" Luna insisted as Makoto took her place at the table across from Usagi and Minako.

"Oh yeah, what did you get from your fire reading, Rei-chan?" Usagi asked.

Rei looked back toward the girls, wearing a rather concerned look on her face, "Trouble."

"Rei-chan already discussed it with me before you got here," Artemis began, "Something's afoot, and the Dark Kingdom is planning something against us."

"Yeah, like Jadeite from Saturday's battle, and Nephrite coming back from the dead," Usagi interrupted.

"Minako-chan told me about Jadeite making his return, as well as Zoisite. But Nephrite coming back from the dead after you girls witnessed Zoisite killing him is rather perplexing," Artemis explained, "But that wasn't what Rei-chan had discovered. Although the reappearance of the other Shitennou in the last couple months may have something to do with it, the enemy is on the move. And they are already here in the Juuban district, even as we speak."

"Really, where?" the girls asked.

"Rei-chan got some pretty good specifics on that. You won't believe it, but they're at Juuban Junior High. We could be more specific about whom or where at the school, but that's all that Rei-chan was able to find," Artemis replied.

Makoto, Ami, and Usagi all gasped in response, their eyes widening at the sound of the Dark Kingdom being at their school. After a few moments, Ami was the first to speak up, "Do you have any idea who it might be?"

"They have to be someone new to your school," Rei answered.

"That doesn't narrow it down very well," Makoto interjected.

"Yeah Rei-chan," Usagi agreed, "Already this week, we got 5 new students in Ami-chan's classes, Mako-chan's classes, and mine. We got a new janitor, a new secretary..." Usagi continued.

"That's it," Ami interrupted mid-sentence, with something coming to her logical mind, "That explains what happened at school today."

"That's right," Makoto agreed, "Rei-chan, Minako-chan, some strange things happened at school today. All the computers in the computer lab were fried sometime after homeroom hour. And then there was a massive power outage after lunch. Some of the lights blew out, some of the lights even busted, and even the emergency lights were blown out. I know power outages, and I've never seen one quite like that before. It has to be the Dark Kingdom's doing."

"But why would they attack the school itself," Minako asked.

"Simple, to lure us in," Rei jumped in, "They figured we would respond quickly if a school was attacked."

"Then that takes the students out of the picture," said Ami, "Unless they have some plot against the school. I doubt it would be any of the students."

"Then it has to be someone who has the ability to intentionally cause these events," Rei added.

"And I know of only three people who have the ability and the access," said Ami.

"Ayama-san, the student teacher in the computer lab, Miyazaki-sensei, the new General Science teacher, and Tidusu-san, the new janitor," Makoto listed.

"Then you girls will have to keep a close watch on these people and see if any of them are acting suspiciously," Artemis recommended, "Be sure to keep your henshin pens and communicators on you at all times."

"I'll watch Ayama-san," Ami volunteered, "She and I share a similar interest in computers."

"I'll watch Miyazaki-sensei," said Makoto, "I have him for science class."

"I'll watch Tidusu-san," said Usagi, "I talk to him when I have the time, and greet him in the halls. It could explain why he's so nice to me."

"Then it's settled. Usagi-chan, Ami-chan, Mako-chan, be careful. If the Dark Kingdom finds out you're on to them, it could spell disaster before you're even ready," Luna suggested, "Keep us posted, and call us immediately if you find anything."

With that, all the girls stood up and began their walk toward the front door. As she slid into her mary janes, Minako and looked back at Rei with a rather confused look on her face, "What? No Grandpa to hit on us?"

"He's a little under the weather," Rei responded, "Yuuichiro's taking care of him right now. So with Grandpa under the weather and Yuuichirou busy taking care of him, Romano and Gabianni are working hard with the chores out in the back. It's been crazy here with Kyodai at his Physics field trip."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Minako replied as she turned toward the door, "Bye Rei-chan."

"May fortune be in your favor, Sailor Senshi," Luna said as she followed Minako and Artemis out the door.

_The next day..._

Titanius arrived back at the school early as usual, again wearing a pair of cargo pants to hide his universal remote control and his communicator to stay in contact with headquarters. Only a few of the students were walking the halls as they were arriving, with more pouring into the school every few minutes or so. So Titanius made his way to the gymnasium where there were no students and extracted his communicator from one of his pockets. "Kunzite-san, it's Titanius," he summoned over his communicator, which he had constructed out of a small two-way radio similar to the ones found in electronics stores, "I'm going to do some last minute inspections of the door locks. I'll signal you sometime around 2nd hour to release my youmas."

"We're ready up here whenever you are," Kunzite replied.

"Then may all hell break loose," Titanius quoted before shutting off his communicator and sliding it back into his cargo pants pocket. He then went around the gymnasium with his universal remote in hand, checking each of the locking mechanisms to make certain they worked. And then, he went back into the main building as more students were filling the halls on their way to their classes. He arrived at another one of the exterior doors and pressed the button on his controller to check the locking mechanism. He then tried the door, finding that the latch and double-cylinder deadbolts didn't budge. 'Perfect, all according to plan,' Titanius thought to himself.

"Good Morning, Tidusu-san," a young girl's voice greeted from behind him, startling him. He jumped, nearly dropping his controller, then turned around to find Usagi wearing a cheerful smile on her face and waving at him. 'Damn, I hope she didn't notice my controller,' Titanius thought to himself as he inconspicuously hid it in his pocket, 'Why does she have to bother me while I'm working.' He then hid his anger and tried his best to smile to the rather friendly young lady, "Good morning, Tsukino-san."

But that greeting came just a second too late as she had already turned around and had begun her journey to her nearby class. With Usagi gone, Titanius continued his journey down the halls of the school, checking each of the exterior doors to make certain that the locking mechanisms were in working order. Finally, as the bell rang to start classes, he finally checked the front doors of the school to make certain that their locking mechanisms worked, which worked like a charm. 'Locking mechanisms, check,' Titanius thought to himself as he placed his controller back into his pocket and continued his rounds about the school.

Next, he made another round down the halls, passing Kyoichi along the way as he was mopping the first floor halls. For this round, he was to check the rigging of the fire alarms to make sure he had rigged them properly. With Kyoichi not looking, Titanius took his controller and set it to diagnose the fire alarm bugs to make sure they would receive the signal. He then traversed up and down the halls, making sure to keep his controller hidden from Kyoichi's inquisitive eyes. He set the controller to emit beeps when the alarm bugs received their signals. After taking 20 minutes walking down all the school's halls, through the cafeteria, the gymnasium, and the auditorium, all of the fire alarms checked out. 'Now I have one more thing to check,' Titanius replied as he made one more round through the school. This time, he found Kyoichi's bucket and mop sitting unattended on the second floor, but no Kyoichi in sight. He carefully checked over his shoulders, making sure Kyoichi wasn't watching him, and kept his controller hidden as he sent diagnostic signals to his smoke bombs that he had planted in the air conditioning system and ventilation ducts.

By the time he made it to the foyer to check the last of his smoke bombs, the bell rang to signal the end of homeroom hour. As if on impulse, Titanius decided to stand still in the middle of the foyer as students filled the halls as they traversed between their classes. Titanius slid his controller back into his pocket and patiently waited as numerous students walked all around him. Suddenly, he caught Usagi looking straight at him, smiling and waving at him as she walked by. 'Unusual,' Titanius thought to himself, 'Tsukino-san never comes by here after her homeroom class. Haruna-sensei's class is nowhere near the foyer.'

Soon, the students disappeared into their classes, giving Titanius the chance to check his last smoke bomb. He pressed the button to diagnose it, and it gave its rewarding beep, letting Titanius know that it was working perfectly. 'There, that's the last one. All is well,' Titanius thought to himself. He then reached into his pocket to grab his communicator to inform Kunzite of his progress, but immediately froze when he spied Kenji walking into the foyer toward him, wearing a rather suspicious look on his face. "Ah, Tidusu-san, I didn't even see you come in today. Can I see you in the janitors' office please?" he said.

"Uh, yes sir," he meekly replied, noticing the look on Kenji's face. So he followed Kyoichi down the hall and toward the janitors' office. 'No, no, no. Don't tell me he's found me out,' Titanius thought to himself, 'He's not gonna stop me from completing my mission.' Moments later, they arrived at the unoccupied janitor's office. Titanius quickly pondered his next move, not even wondering what it was that made Kenji look so suspicious to begin with. Titanius closed the door behind him, and as Kenji turned around, Titanius quickly zapped him in the chest with a dark energy beam, sending him barreling into the pipes on the other side of the office and knocking him unconscious. "You're first, Kenji. Your energy will be mine," Titanius said as he walked up to him and thrust his palm into Kenji's chest and began draining his energy.

With one potential spoiler out of the way, Titanius quietly opened the door and peeked outside to make sure that no one was around to hear the commotion he had just made. With no one around, he walked out of the janitors' office and down the main hall. 'Looks like I'm going to have to accelerate my plan before Kyoichi discovers Kenji unconscious,' Titanius thought to himself, 'At least everything's working, so no worries yet.' He quickly extracted his communicator and keyed the microphone, "Kunzite-san, it's Titanius. Everything's ready, but we're going to have to act now. I had to take out the head janitor before he discovered me, and it's only a matter of time before the other janitor finds him. I'll let you know when to send my youmas."

"Understood, be careful," Kunzite replied. Titanius then looked all around him to make sure Kyoichi wasn't following him. Satisfied that he was alone, he extracted his controller, set it accordingly, and pressed the big red button on it. And in an instant, all the smoke bombs he had set detonated. He then reset his controller and pressed the button again, this time setting all the fire alarms off. "Let there be hell," Titanius recited as the fire alarms wailed. Immediately, smoke began pouring from the vents as students quickly began to file out of their classrooms.

As the panicking students filled the halls, Titanius took quick note of their energy levels with a rather small crystal. "Perfect, their energy is peaking," he noted, "A catastrophe such as a fire in the school, and my youmas, will certainly lure those damned Sailor Senshi. I just hope the Mars Prince shows up." As more panicking students filled the halls, Titanius reset his controller and pressed the button, activating all of his locking mechanisms, thus trapping the students inside. Satisfied with the results, he pulled out his communicator and slipped into a nearby supply closet.

Meanwhile, Makoto had noticed Tidusu Jacobi holding a rather odd-looking radio as he had escaped into the supply closet. Smoke had filled the halls, reducing visibility to a mere couple meters, as the students were coughing while they tried to navigate the halls. Then, horror struck her as some students were trying desperately to open one of the doors to exit the school, but were failing miserably as the doors didn't even budge and inch with 3 or 4 students trying to bash their way out. Suddenly, a lizard-like youma raced right by Makoto and caught those students off guard. It knocked the students into the walls and grabbed two of them in its claws. There, the youma began draining their energy.

Makoto quickly slipped away, trying to avoid the students, and returned to the supply closet where she had witnessed Tidusu Jacobi with his radio. She turned the knob and threw the door open. However, she discovered it to be completely empty. She was never very far from the door in the first place and never heard it open again. It was like Jacobi had vanished into thin air. So she went into the closet, slammed the door shut, locked it, and pulled out her communicator. "Everyone, it's Tidusu-san. He's the saboteur," she announced over her communicator, "Usagi-chan, check the janitors' office. And be careful, he's already unleashed a youma."

She then unlocked the door and knocked out one of the ceiling tiles, and then immediately through it and into the ceiling. Away from all the smoke, she coughed a few times, trying to clear her lungs out. She then removed her henshin pen, "Jupiter Power, Make-Up!"

She quickly transformed into Sailor Jupiter in the confined space of the ceiling between the tiles and the second floor, and then burst through a ceiling tile and into the hallway. Immediately, she rediscovered the group of students trying desperately to get out through the locked door as the lizard-like youma was bearing down on them. Quick to act, she leapt into the door like a lion tackling its prey and slammed her left foot into it with all her might, causing it to shatter the rigged hardware and fly off its hinges by a good hundred meters. With their escape in sight, the students began pouring out through the freed door and away from the youma.

With the students safe, Sailor Jupiter turned back to the youma and merely glared at it as it slowly advanced toward her. She crossed her arms in front of her and extended her antenna from her tiara. "My guardian planet, Jupiter, bring forth the storm, the clouds, and thunder... Supreme Thunder!" With that command, she sent powerful bolts of lightning surging through the reptilian youma, sending it flying clear down the hall and into the far side wall.

Meanwhile, Sailor Moon, having previously transformed upon hearing about Tidusu Jacobi being the saboteur, ran into the janitors' office to find Kenji lying against the pipes at the far wall of the office, unconscious. "Takeshi-san!" she shrieked as she ran over to check on him. "He has a pulse, thank God. This must've been the Dark Kingdom's doing," she said to herself. She immediately extracted her Moon Stick and charged up the Silver Crystal, "Moon Healing Escalation!" With the power of the Silver Crystal, she restored Kenji's energy and then proceeded to carry him out.

But as she entered the smoke-filled hallway, she discovered another group of students trying hopelessly to escape from a large, cattle-like youma. She immediately placed the still-unconscious Kenji against the wall and removed her tiara. "Everyone, move away from the door," she yelled, getting the attention of the students that were trying to bash the rigged door open. Once they had cleared the way, Sailor Moon charged her tiara, "Moon Tiara, Action!" She hurled her tiara at the door, striking it dead on the knob and lock and shattering as if it were made of glass. With the door freed, the students burst out of the door to escape from the raging youma.

Sailor Mercury arrived and took her place next to Sailor Moon. "Good going, Sailor Moon," she praised.

"Thank you, Mercury," Sailor Moon replied, "What do you make of this youma?"

In response, Sailor Mercury tapped her left earring and donned her visor, and then extracted her minicomputer to analyze the bovine youma. And the results startled Sailor Mercury. "This is a pretty powerful youma," she stated as she read the data on her computer, "Its rage is off the charts and has a powerful will to destroy. A little water should douse its heated rage." She then replaced her computer and tapped her earring, removing her visor. She then quickly aimed at the bull-like youma as it stomped its front hooves at the pair.

"Shabon Spray!" She struck the youma dead on, but unfortunately her bubbles had no effect. It merely laughed off her attack and charged at her. Catching her totally by surprise, mostly from shock at the failure of her attack, the youma dipped its horns and slammed her into a wall.

Just as Sailor Mercury had taken the brunt of the youma's attack, Sailor Mars arrived on the scene at the other side of the hall. She had seen the youma pummel Sailor Mercury with its charging attack and had to quickly divert its attention. So she jumped up and down and screamed at it, "Hey cow-head?" The youma turned toward her in response to see her jumping up and down, inviting it to charge at her. It immediately obliged as it stomped on the floor, scrapped its front hoof against the asphalt time, and immediately launched itself at Sailor Mars. Just as the youma neared her, she immediately clasped her hands together and aimed her fiery fingers at it.

"Fire Soul!"

She launched a powerful ball of fire at the youma, striking it in its bull-like face and sending it flying near where Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury were standing. After taking that brutal attack, the bull slowly made it to its feet, with smoke still emanating from its body. "That's it Sailor Mars, overheat its rage," Sailor Mercury cheered. Sailor Mars quickly dashed toward the youma with burning hands and thrust her palms at its face before it could even react, knocking it out the open door and causing it to overheat and finally explode.

"Fight fire with fire," said Sailor Mars, raising an eyebrow to her friends.

Meanwhile, Sailor Jupiter continued to tangle with the oversized lizard. Although her powerful electric attacks were sending the reptilian youma flying about the halls of the school, they were barely even harming it. It just kept recovering rather quickly from her attacks and charged at her every time. Unsatisfied with her deadly lightning failing to phase it, she decided to engage the youma in hand-to-hand combat, using her brute strength to overcome the youma.

Later, Sailor Moon, Mars, and Mercury made their way through the east side of the school, assisting with the evacuation of the students. But as Sailor Moon had removed her tiara to blast away the last rigged door, it suddenly blasted open in front of them. The senshi quickly moved the students behind them and prepared themselves for combat, only to find Sailor Venus standing in the doorway as the smoke cleared. "Venus, I'm glad you could finally join us," said Sailor Moon, "Now help us get these students out of here."

"Hey, I had some trouble getting here. I actually had to leave one school to come over to this one, you know," Sailor Venus replied, hiding the fact from the students that she was really a Shiba Koen student and not a Juuban one. As the students were evacuating, Sailor Moon peered around a corner to find a rockman-type youma grabbing a hold a few straggling students and draining their energy. "Hey guys, we got another youma on our hands," she said, drawing the other senshis' attention to the new youma. Sailor Mercury immediately donned her visor, took out her minicomputer, and analyzed the youma.

"Its physical strength contests even Sailor Jupiter's, and its rock body is built like tank armor," Sailor Mercury explained, "The only way to defeat it is by weakening the rock."

"Fire will turn that rock into lava," Sailor Mars suggested as she clasped her hands together and aimed her pointer fingers at it.

"Also, water will soften that rock, but both together will nullify one another," Sailor Mercury added.

"I understand. Mars, burn it. Venus, finish it. Sailor Mercury and I'll look for Tidusu-san," Sailor Moon ordered as she and Sailor Mercury left the group in search for Tidusu Jacobi. The smoke bombs in the ventilation and air conditioning had finally expired, so the halls were pretty clear. Suddenly, as Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury neared the main hall, a large lizard-like youma flew backward in front of them and slammed into the wall. With the youma dazed, Sailor Moon peeked around the corner to find Sailor Jupiter dashing toward it at high speed. "Nice throw, Jupiter," Sailor Moon complimented.

"Thanks, Sailor Moon. That was the 8th time I've thrown this bastard into the walls," Sailor Jupiter replied, "He just won't stay down."

Sailor Mercury already had her visor and minicomputer out and was studying the reptilian youma as it recovered from Sailor Jupiter's attack. "This youma has exceptional stamina," she explained, "It's no wonder that it withstood such a beating from even you, Sailor Jupiter. Its scaly body is well insulated from heat and electricity."

"No kidding," Sailor Jupiter exclaimed, "I've already tried zapping this thing plenty of times. So how do we kill it?"

"It's a powerful youma, but it's no water lizard," Sailor Mercury replied, "So water and ice should be effective against it."

"Then stand back," Sailor Moon ordered as she removes her tiara and aimed for the fire sprinklers. "Moon Tiara, Action!" She hurled the tiara along the ceiling, knocking out all the sprinklers throughout the hall, flooding the halls and soaking the youma.

"Good thinking, Sailor Moon," Sailor Mercury acknowledged. Annoyed by the indoor rainstorm from the sprinklers, the youma immediately retreated out the front door. The 3 senshi followed the youma outside, only to find Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus battling with the other youma. And to their surprise, they discovered the entire student body trapped in a whirling purple force field near the softball field. With the battle out in the open and the students being held as hostages, both youmas ran in that direction, where Tidusu Jacobi was standing guard over the students. All 5 Sailor Senshi grouped together to confront the saboteur.

"Alright, Tidusu Jacobi," Sailor Moon growled, "We all know you're the minion of the Dark Kingdom responsible for sabotaging the school and causing quite an uproar. In the name of the Moon, you'll be punished."

"Am I Tidusu Jacobi?" Titanius responded before he quickly removed his disguise, revealing his all-too-familiar black and red armor underneath.

"Titanius?!" all 5 Sailor Senshi exclaimed.

"The one and only," Titanius responded, taking a theatrical bow, "I'm glad that all 5 of you have shown up to my little party." He then quickly turned to his two youmas, "Get them! Concentrate on that pyromaniac."

At his command, his youmas charged at the Sailor Team. They quickly dispersed to make it more difficult for the youmas to take them all out in one shot, and to make it easier for them to team up on one youma. But just as the senshi scattered, the two youmas turned their attention right toward Sailor Mars and charged at her. Before she could even react, the lizard youma tackled her to the ground and the rock youma picked her up and threw her toward Titanius. Just as she landed in front of him, Titanius blasted her with a beam of dark energy, sending her flying into the force field, bouncing her off of it and sending her sliding down the softball field.

"Why are they all attacking Sailor Mars?" Sailor Venus asked.

"I have no clue," Sailor Mercury replied, surprised with Titanius' strategy, "He knows he can't concentrate one of us at a time."

"I don't care why. Nobody hurts my friend," said Sailor Jupiter. And immediately, Sailor Jupiter jumped in front of the rock youma to get its attention. Before it could even respond, she leaped at it and smacked it with a flying kick, sending it sliding down the field. She then turned her attention to the lizard youma while Sailor Moon turned her attention toward Titanius.

With Titanius busy eyeing Sailor Mars, Sailor Moon removed her tiara and charged it with her energy, "Moon Tiara, Action!" She hurled her tiara at Titanius, striking his shoulder with a rather weak blow that only served to get his attention. He turned to see Sailor Moon catch her tiara as it had returned to her. "Damn you, Sailor Moon. You'll pay for that weak little cheap shot," Titanius growled.

"How could you do it to those students," Sailor Moon scolded, "They got to know you very well in only a few days. They trusted you and you betrayed them." She then charged at Titanius at full speed before he could even react. Immediately, she thrust her palm into Titanius' chest, knocking him to the ground. He quickly recovered, only to have her kick him in the face and send him flying into the air like an American football. "Sailor Kick!" she yelled as she flew into Titanius, connecting with him and upping his tab on his frequent flyer miles. She quickly had the upper hand on the bounty hunter.

"Damn, I can't be losing to her like this again," Titanius cursed, realizing that he was once again pathetically falling to the young Sailor Senshi. Before Sailor Moon could get off another shot, he powered up his dark energy and pushed her back as dark energy engulfed his hands. He then slapped her in the face with that energy, sending her into the branches of a nearby tree. He then ran over to that tree and glanced up at the struggling Sailor Moon with his glowing eyes. "I'll eradicate you," he said in a deep voice.

And just as he was charging up for a devastating attack, numerous roses pierced his armor, prompting pain to surge throughout his body and stopping him dead in his attempt. Sailor Moon looked in the direction from where the roses came to see her prince, Tuxedo Mask, standing on top of the school building with his scarlet cape waving in the wind.

"School is an institution where youths come to learn the ways of the world, and shouldn't be used to instill terror," he said to Titanius as he drew his cane.

"So you're here too?" Titanius yelled, still struggling in pain from the roses.

"I shall defend you, fair princess," Tuxedo Mask said as he hopped down from the school and rushed toward Titanius.

Meanwhile, the rock youma had returned to concentrating his attacks on Sailor Mars, hoping to fulfill Titanius' mission to lure the Mars Prince. Sailor Mercury desperately attempted to douse its stone body to weaken it as Sailor Venus tried striking it with 'Crescent Beam'. Unfortunately, the combined attack had little effect on the heavily-armored youma. It only served to distract the youma. He turned toward the two meddlesome senshi and quickly battered them both to the ground. Then, he turned his attention back to Sailor Mars.

"Oh no you don't," Sailor Mars yelled as she clasped her hands together and aimed her fingers at the youma, "Fire Soul!" She struck the rock youma in the face with a powerful ball of fire, causing it to flinch and stagger backward a couple steps. But that attack too didn't phase it as it continued its advance toward her. "Fire Soul!" she yelled, desperately trying to burn through its stony armor, but the youma quickly grabbed a hold of her neck and lifted her high above its head. He then squeezed her neck and began draining her energy.

But just before the youma strangled the life out of her, a flaming spirit materialized in its face, laughing profusely. The youma froze in place, loosening his grip on Sailor Mars as fiery ghost flew around him, laughing. The youma threw Sailor Mars into the same tree that Sailor Moon had landed in, knocking her out of the tree and dropping both senshi to the ground. He then tried to swat and bat at the laughing ghost, but his arms merely passed through it like he was swinging through air.

Sailor Venus looked around the school grounds, wondering where the burning spirit had come from. "Look," Sailor Mercury called, pointing toward the softball field. There walls of fire engulfed much of the softball field, with Tuxedo Inferno standing right in the middle of it.. He marched through the wall of flames and toward the rock youma. As he advanced toward the group, the wall of fire disappeared, leaving the softball field unscathed. He waved his arms about like a true martial artist and charged up his attack.

"Inferno Fire, Beam!" he yelled as he thrust his palms at the rock youma. He launched a superheated beam of fire at the back of the rock youma, striking it with deadly accuracy. With most of his energy, he held the beam on the youma. His attempt was rewarded as the beam began to melt the youma's rocky armor into lave. "Sailor Venus, fire your crescent beam at the fissure in its body," he ordered.

Sailor Venus only shook her head in acknowledgement and turned to the youma, who was showing signs of pain as more lava poured from the fissure that Tuxedo Inferno's beam of fire was creating. She lowered her eyebrows and summoned the power of Venus, then aimed her pointer finger directly at the fissure. "Crescent Beam!" she yelled, firing a powerful beam of light into the fissure. The beam struck its mark, causing both the fissure and the youma to glow with great magnitude. Tuxedo Inferno halted his beam attack as the youma flashed, then exploded, sending rocks flying about the school grounds.

"Take care of the students in the force field," Sailor Venus ordered, "Sailor Mercury and I will take the other youma. Fire has little effect on it."

"I understand," he replied as he turned toward the force field, where the students watched in awe as the senshi were getting the upper hand in battle.

"Wait, Tuxedo Inferno," a voice summoned to him, stopping him from advancing further. He turned around to see Sailor Mercury running toward him with her minicomputer handy. "Titanius is in control of that force field. You'll have to help Tuxedo Mask defeat him in order to drop that force field," she explained, "Don't worry about us, we'll take care of the youma."

Titanius only tipped his hat to her in response and turned to Titanius. "Titanius," Tuxedo Inferno said to no one in particular in his usual deep voice as he drew his flame sword from his obsidian jewel ring. "Titanius," he yelled as Titanius knocked Tuxedo Mask back. Titanius then turned to Tuxedo Inferno. "I challenge you to a duel," said Tuxedo Inferno.

"Ah, so you have arrived, good," said Titanius, satisfied in having finally attracted the attention of his target, "Now I will concentrate on you. I accept your challenge" Titanius leaped toward Tuxedo Inferno with great force, shattering the world records in both the long jump and the high jump. He drew his crooked sword and clashed with Tuxedo Inferno.

Tuxedo Mask watched on as Tuxedo Inferno quickly got the upper hand on Titanius in a rather short sword fight. But then Titanius cheated and fired a beam of dark energy at Tuxedo Inferno's face, causing him to wince in pain. And just as he raised his crooked blade to strike the final blow on the man in maroon and claim a quick victory, Tuxedo Mask pulled out a rose and hurled it at Titanius, knocking his sword from his hand. Disarmed, Titanius looked around to see all five Sailor Senshi, Tuxedo Mask, and Tuxedo Inferno starring at him, ready to destroy him on a mind's pulse. He then realized that both his remaining youmas had fallen.

"You win this battle, Tuxedo Inferno. But next time, no one will be around to save you. My work here is done," said Titanius. He released the force field and detonated a smoke bomb under his feet, filling the entire battle ground with smoke. The senshi, Tuxedo Mask, and Tuxedo Inferno all coughed and wheezed, trying to regain their bearings. When the smoke cleared, Titanius and his sword were both gone.

With the battle over, the 5 senshi then turned to Tuxedo Inferno. "Thank you for your help, Tuxedo Inferno," said Sailor Venus.

"How do you manage to show up just in the nick of time just like Tuxedo Mask does?" Sailor Moon asked.

"Yeah," Sailor Jupiter suspiciously agreed, "And what did Titanius mean by 'his work here is done'?"

"And how come we still don't know you?" Sailor Mars added.

"Stop it, everyone," Sailor Moon barked, "He helped us to save this school." She turned to Tuxedo Inferno, "Thank you, Tuxedo Inferno. Don't mind them. They're just very protective of me, that's all."

"Don't mention it," Tuxedo Inferno replied as the field behind him engulfed in flames. He then walked backward into the fiery wall and disappeared behind it. The flames intensified for a moment, and then extinguished, along with Tuxedo Inferno.

The senshi then looked around to see that Tuxedo Mask had also disappeared. "Everyone, we're holding an emergency senshi meeting at the temple after school," said Sailor Mars before she and Sailor Venus turned and ran back toward their schools. Sailor Moon, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Mercury nodded in response and disappeared in a secluded area to transform back into their civilian forms. They then quietly slipped their way back into the group of students as they had just begun organizing with their teachers. The battle had ended just in time as police cars and fire trucks began gathering at the front of the school.

_Dark Kingdom Headquarters..._

Titanius returned to the Dark Kingdom Headquarters after his loss to the Sailor Senshi, Tuxedo Mask, and Tuxedo Inferno at the school. Although his battle was a loss, he at least succeeded in luring Tuxedo Inferno into battle. His battle with the Mars Prince was rather short, but he did observe some interesting things about the battle, however subtle they were. He entered his chamber, removed his armor, and sat at his ancient-looking desk. He then removed a small computer resembling that of Sailor Mercury's and began to look over all the data he had gathered. But just as he had begun analyzing, there was a loud knock at his door.

"Who the hell is that?" he barked.

"It's Kunzite and Zoisite," Kunzite's voice barked back through Titanius' heavy door.

"Come in," he said. And with his invitation, Kunzite and Zoisite entered his chamber.

"You failed your mission, didn't you Titanius?" Kunzite commented, having witnessed the battle from Queen Beryl's throne room.

"Did I now?" Titanius contradicted.

"Queen Beryl was pissed off enough to kick me out of her throne room when you lost your battle to those Sailor Senshi," Kunzite explained.

"Yeah, so what?" Titanius replied indifferently.

"You didn't even carry out your plan very well," Kunzite continued, "The way you sent the youma out was not as planned. You lost your bull youma and summoned to me to send in that rock youma. That wasn't even your youma, but rather one of Jadeite's. Even the lizard youma was Jadeite's."

"I know," says Titanius, chuckling.

"You think this is all a joke," Kunzite growled, "You won't think it's funny when Queen Beryl summons you to her throne room to punish you for failing a mission that you had so strategically drawn up, and had gotten her endorsement on."

"Kunzite-kun, I'm sure he knows what he's doing," said Zoisite, trying to standing up for the bounty hunter, "For all we know, everything except for his loss may have all gone according to plan."

"Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding. Ding. Very good, Zoisite-san," Titanius sarcastically praised, "And what do we have for the winner Johnny?"

"Very funny Titanius," Kunzite commented.

"Just let me look over this data and I'll let you and Queen Beryl in on it, understood?" said Titanius. He then waved his hand at the two Shitennou, shooshing them away.

"Very well, I'll let Queen Beryl know. I hope you find something interesting, or Queen Beryl will be most displeased," said Kunzite before he and Zoisite turned to leave Titanius' chamber.

_end of chapter 2_

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_Disclaimer: As usual, Sailor Moon and most of the characters ain't mine, but belong to Naoko Takeuchi. And God bless that woman for creating such great entertainment for all of us with a lot of free time on our hands to enjoy. The English dub belongs to DiC Entertainment and Cloverway, and I only thank them for bringing' it to America, nothin' more. But Russell Hino/Hino Kyodai, Tuxedo Inferno, Titanius, and Deanna Kokorono/Kokorono Meijin are MINE (in a growling voice). So, please don't sue me. I'm just a lonely man who ain't got anythang but his pride. Well, y'all enjoy this fanfic and e-mail me.

Have fun Sailor Moon fans,  
Viper Inferno  
**(Y2V)**


	3. Chapter 3: Failure, Again

Title: Wildfire - Chapter 3

Author: Viper Inferno

Genre: Action Drama

Rated: PG

Author's Notes: This is the fourth story in the _**Warrior of Fire Anthology**_. Therefore, I recommend reading Brother of Fire, Five-Alarm Fire, and Forest Fire before reading this fanfic, since they are part of a series and provide quite a bit of the background for this fanfic.

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**Wildfire**

_By Viper Inferno_

Chapter 3: Failure, Again

"You really are a great dancer," a young woman commented, her gentle voice barely above a whisper, as she gazed into Kyodai's eyes.

"Thank you, Princess," he replied, his eyes not averting from hers, "I have been practicing for years."

"I can tell," she replied with the same gentle voice. And as Kyodai gazed into her eyes, he noticed that all he could make of this princess was her eyes. Her form was but a silhouette, her hair difficult to make out, and her dress was but transparent fabric over her silhouette. Even her voice seemed more ambient than directed to him.

After a moment of gazing into each other's eyes, another beautiful ocean-inspired song began and the couple began to move slowly to the serene melody. Sounds of the ocean sounded throughout the great hall, giving Kyodai and the princess the feeling of being underwater as they danced. The piano sounded away with a romantic melody while the strings section of the chamber orchestra provided the background music.

In the middle of the dance, the princess removed her head from Kyodai's shoulder, gazed into his deep purple eyes, and wrapped both arms over his shoulders. As she gazed into his eyes, she immediately noticed the fire burning in them. And with the ocean glistening in hers, they danced to the captivating song with pure passion and emotion.

After the song, she gently laid her fingers on Kyodai's cheek. "Thank you for the dance, Kyodai," she said with her eyes glistening in her eyes.

Kyodai took that hand into his in response, "My pleasure, Princess." She then let go, smiled at him, and quietly left the dance floor and walked toward the open balcony.

And before Kyodai knew it, he was standing out on that balcony. It was then that he realized where he was. Above him was the form of a beautiful and majestic palace, with a large crescent moon adorning the top of the large domed roof. It was overlooking a vast pond, glistening in not the Moon's but the Earth's light. He immediately concluded that this palace and his princess were of some kingdom on the Moon.

"It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" a voice said behind him. He turned around to find the very same princess walking out onto the open balcony to meet him. And just as in the dance room, when she leaned on the balcony railing next to him, Kyodai could only make out her eyes.

"Yeah," Kyodai replied, "So many stars, billions of miles away. It's wonderful such a destructive force such as those massive balls of fire could make the night sky look so beautiful from such a distance."

"But, up close, it is just a burning mass of hydrogen and various other gases that gives life to all," she added.

"I heard from my friend that the moon is a captivating site from Earth. With the water sparkling in the moonlight," said Kyodai.

"The Earth makes a beautiful site from here. The waters glisten it its light too," she said.

Kyodai then gazed into her beautiful baby-blue eyes to see the very same glistening of the ocean in her eyes that he had seen at the dance, "The Earth makes your eyes glisten beautifully."

She advanced slowly towards him, seeing the same fire in his eyes, "And the fires of the sky burn beautifully in your eyes. So find me, my Prince of Mars." She then wrapped her arms around the tops of his shoulders and kissed him with passionate love.

But halfway through the kiss, Kyodai pulled back from the princess, and noticed a rather sad look in her baby-blue eyes. "Find you?" he wondered.

"I am out there, somewhere," the princess continued, "You know what my eyes look like. You know how they glisten like the peaceful blue ocean. Let your heart guide you and let my eyes be your beacon. Wherever you go, wherever you search in the world, no matter how difficult the journey, if you search for that beacon...your heart will guide you to it... and when you find the glistening of the ocean in a pair of baby-blue eyes...it is there where I will be waiting for you... I promise." Her last sentences echoed throughout the balcony as it, the palace, the pond, and the earth all slowly faded into the darkness.

_That morning..._

Kyodai sprung up from his bed, throwing the sheets from his chest in the process. "Baby-blue eyes that glisten in the moonlight just like the serene ocean," he said to himself, "Perhaps that's why Mako-chan wasn't the one."

"Are you talking to yourself again, Kyodai-kun," another man's voice mumbled to him as he to was waking up. And just as Kyodai was about to answer that question, the alarm clock went off next to Kyodai's bed. He leaned over toward his night stand and quickly shut it off.

"No, just had another weird dream, that's all," Kyodai replied, not even looking over to his Physics classmate just waking up in the other bed in their hotel room.

"Same one as last night?" his classmate asked.

"Yes, the same dream again," Kyodai replied. 'That princess is out there, somewhere,' he thought to himself as he tossed his legs over the side of the bed, 'I can never see what she looks like. All I ever notice are those baby-blue eyes sparkling like the ocean. But is she back home in Juuban, or is she not even in Tokyo? Or maybe, just maybe, she could be in another country. I don't know. But somehow, I have a feeling I'm getting close to her. So perhaps I'll meet her as Tuxedo Inferno. Let her glistening eyes be your beacon, Kyodai.'

"Yeah, I get those dreams too and end up with restless nights," his classmate said as he too threw his sheets off and threw his legs over the side of his bed to sit up, "C'mon, lets get some breakfast before the seminar."

"Sure, I'll go on ahead. Meet me there," Kyodai replied as he stood from his med and walked over to his suitcase containing his clothes.

_The Dark Kingdom..._

After yesterday's battle with the Sailor Team, Titanius had spent much of his time analyzing the data he had gathered on not only the Mars Prince, but also the Sailor Senshi which he helped in battle. He analyzed the circumstances of the battle, their tactics, and even how they interacted with each other. It took all of yesterday and much of the morning for him to finish going over all the data. Once finished, Titanius shut his computer off and left his chamber.

Despite studying his battle with the Sailor Senshi, he did lose to them, after all. And judging from what Kunzite had told him yesterday, he knew he was going to end up facing Queen Beryl's wrath. So as he approached the throne room, he briefly paused to collect himself. And then, he opened the door and walked inside, where all 4 Shitennou had already arrived to discuss their next attack.

"Ah, Titanius, it's great for you to finally drop in. I saw your battle yesterday," Queen Beryl said upon seeing his entrance, and then raised her voice slightly, "You failed to destroy the Mars Prince, again, and after you had carried out what would've been a flawless plan. I can't believe that I endorsed your supposedly ingenious mission only to see you mess it up."

Titanius kneeled down before her as she gave him the verbal thrashing. Once she had finished, he glanced up to meet her eyes. "With all due respect, Queen Beryl-sama, defeating the Mars Prince was not part of my master plan," Titanius defended, "Everything yesterday, including the battle and its outcome, went as planned."

"What are you trying to say, Titanius?" Queen Beryl challenged.

"Yeah, Titanius," Jadeite added.

"Enlighten us," Zoisite also added.

"Why don't you tell us what you really have planned," Kunzite finished, "I told Queen Beryl-sama that you had something else planned. So you had better tell her."

"My mission this whole week was to lure the Mars Prince and study him," Titanius explained, "I wanted to study his methods, what draws him into battle, and how he interacts with the Sailor Senshi."

"Studying is not good enough, Titanius," Queen Beryl interrupted, "I hired you to do a job, and that was to destroy the Mars Prince and rid us of his meddling. You won't get your pay until the Mars Prince is exterminated. Is that clear?"

"Understood, Queen Beryl-sama, but I did some planning last night after analyzing the data from yesterday's battle," said Titanius, finishing his previous statement.

"And what have you come up with?" Queen Beryl inquired.

"The Sailor Team still don't trust him very much, especially that pyromaniac Sailor Mars and that muscle-head Sailor Jupiter. Tuxedo Mask doesn't trust him much either. Only Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury seem to have any trust in him," Titanius presented, rising to make his presentation.

"What are you trying to get at?" Queen Beryl badgered.

"He's a powerful warrior and the Sailor Team doesn't trust him. I think we should capitalize on that. He could make a powerful ally," Titanius concluded.

"The Mars Prince, working for us?" Queen Beryl said, pondering his findings.

"Queen Beryl-sama, I love that plan," said Kunzite.

"Titanius-san, you're a genius," Nephrite complemented.

"I like your strategy, Titanius. And I like your plan," Queen Beryl praised, "So I'm going to count on you to bring that plan to fruition. Your mission is to capture the Mars Prince and bring him here. Use any means you deem necessary in bringing him to us."

"And how will we make him ours?" Titanius wondered.

"Don't worry about that," Queen Beryl sharply replied, "You just concentrate on bringing him here. I'll make him ours myself."

"Then the battle will have to be between him and me," Titanius explained, "The senshi will get suspicious if they get involved. It may be tough, but I'll have to lure just him."

"I don't care how you do it, Titanius. Just bring him here," Queen Beryl ordered.

"Yes, Queen Beryl-sama," Titanius replied. He gave her a quick British salute and then turned to leave the throne room and carry out his next mission.

"The Mars Prince as one of us, huh? That'll be a glorious day for the Dark Kingdom," Queen Beryl said to the 4 Shitennou before raising her voice, "You 4 had better start showing some progress in resurrecting our Great Leader. Titanius may have failed his last mission, but he's showing a hell of a lot more initiative and tenacity than all 4 of you put together. Now get out of my face."

All 4 Shitennou replied with a simple bow to their queen before teleporting away, leaving Queen Beryl to her crystal ball and her thoughts.

"With the Mars Prince on our side, that pesky Sailor Moon and her Sailor Senshi are a good as dead," Queen Beryl said to herself as she filled the throne room with her evil laughter.

_Hikawa Jinja..._

Rei sat in the living room, waiting for her friends to arrive for the senshi meeting. Although she wanted to hold the senshi meeting yesterday after school, there was far too much going on at Juuban Junior High after the false fire at the school for a meeting to be held. Minako and Rei had made it to the shrine at the predetermined time, but Usagi and Ami had to wait on their parents to bring them home so the school could ensure that they were okay. Usagi had called Rei immediately after she had gotten home, and they decided to hold their meeting after today's half-day classes.

So there Rei sat, waiting for her friends to show. It didn't take long for the door to knock. Filled with anticipation, Rei went over to the door and opened it to let Ami and Minako inside. But as she was closing the door, a white streak flew through the door, narrowly missing getting locked out or even getting hit by the door. She turned around to find Artemis standing in the middle of the living room, panting.

Artemis caught his breath and turned to Rei, "Rei-chan, watch it when you close the door."

"I'm sorry, Artemis," Rei kindly apologized.

"You know I always accompany Minako-chan, and am not always carried by her," Artemis added, "It's okay, I accept your apology."

After the three had gotten settled in the living room, Rei checked her watch to find that 15 minutes had gone by since Ami and Minako arrived, without much of a peep between them all. "Where's Mako-chan and Usagi?" Rei wondered.

"They're somewhere?" Minako responded.

"Usagi said she had to get Luna. But I don't know where Mako-chan is," Ami added.

"I just hope Usagi's not late again," Rei sarcastically commented.

And right as she had made the comment, there was a knock at the door right before it slid open. Before Rei could even stand up, Usagi and Makoto welcomed themselves right inside, with Luna in Usagi's arms.

"Speak of the devil," Rei commented, "If being late for a meeting wasn't bad enough, you had to go off dragging poor Mako-chan into it as well."

"Jeez Rei-chan, you never give up, do you," Usagi argued.

"If you're gonna be late, don't drag us into it," Rei scolded.

"But, you're my friends, I would never do that on purpose," Usagi pouted.

"You're such a lollygagger," Rei slandered, "You're never on time for anything."

"Why are you being so mean to me?" Usagi whimpered before she began to wail.

"Usagi-chan, it's okay. Don't let her get to you," Makoto said, laying her hands on Usagi's shoulders to comfort her. She then turned to Rei, "Rei-chan, she's got a point you know. I went with her to her house and told her mother that she and I were coming over here."

"Humph," Rei snorted, dropping down on the floor with her arms crossed in defeat. Usagi and Makoto then joined the others around the big table in the middle of the living room, with Luna and Artemis taking their places right on the table.

"Hey Rei-chan? Are you sure it's okay to hold the meeting now?" Usagi wondered.

"Yes, Usagi," Rei replied, "Romano's at soccer practice, Gabianni and Yuuichirou are out doing some shopping, and Grandpa's still under the weather. And Kyodai doesn't come back until Monday. So we have this room all to ourselves."

"That's good to hear," said Usagi, "Shall we get started?"

"Yesterday was filled with the strangest of events," Luna prompted.

"Yeah, I can't believe Tidusu-san was Titanius," Usagi stated, "How could a janitor as nice and friendly as Tidusu-san was turn out to be a member of the Dark Kingdom?"

"I can't believe that he managed to secretly rig the entire school by himself," Ami added.

"He's seems to be an expert strategist," Luna observed, "He's one of the Dark Kingdom's most powerful warriors. And the fact that they're paying him to rid the universe of you seems to make him even more ambitious, and more dangerous."

"His also had youmas of his own," said Makoto, "And very powerful ones too."

"He's our primary threat right now. We need to keep on the look out for him," Rei jumped in.

"It's odd," Usagi wondered, "We were able to easily defeat him since I destroyed his laser gun, but now he's much more powerful."

"He probably spent all that time since your last battle at your school training," Artemis explained.

"And Tuxedo Inferno," Minako brought up, "What about him?"

"He seems to be on our side," said Usagi.

"He once again helped us out in battle," said Ami.

"But he and Titanius seemed to be very interested in each other," Rei explained, "It's like Titanius laid off of us to go after him."

"I still don't trust him," Makoto stated, surrendering to her suspicion, "He and Titanius could be playing some kind of trick on us, studying us."

"I don't trust him much either," Rei added, "It's not any kind of ruse that has me wondering, but it's the fact that neither we nor Tuxedo Mask know who he is. I can't even pick up on his aura to tell if he's an ally or an enemy."

"He is kind of cute," said Minako, trying to look on the bright side, "And he's such a great fighter."

Luna cleared her throat to break up the discussion and add her own input to the rather rapid-fire meeting. "I personally don't know whether to trust Tuxedo Inferno or not, especially since I have yet to meet him myself," she explained.

"Even I don't remember him that well," Artemis added.

"So I think Tuxedo Inferno's the least of our worries right now," Luna continued, "Titanius is certainly not a force to be taken lightly. He's powerful, he's resourceful, and he's ambitious. And he'll stop at nothing to get what he wants. So I suggest you girls keep your communicators and pins handy."

"So is that all?" Usagi asked.

"I can't think of anything," Ami replied.

"I still don't trust Tuxedo Inferno. I think he's just pretending to be our friend like Tuxedo Mask used to do before he turned evil," Makoto also replied.

"But Tuxedo Mask turned out to be our ally," Usagi argued, "He only fought against us because the Dark Kingdom was controlling him."

"And he's Prince Endymion," Ami added.

"Like I said, Mako-chan, Tuxedo Inferno's the least of our worries," said Luna, "So let's focus on fighting the enemy we do know and worry about Tuxedo Inferno when he shows up."

"I agree," said Usagi as she stood up, "I have some shopping I want to do with Minako-chan. So I guess our meeting's over."

"Do be careful, everyone," said Luna as the other girls stood and made their way toward the front door. Usagi took Luna into her arms and Minako took Artemis into hers and joined Makoto at the door. Meanwhile, Ami merely stayed seated at her table, having arranged a little studying with Rei after returning home from school last night. Usagi had slid into her shoes and turned back to Ami, "Goodbye, Ami-chan. Have fun studying."

"Goodbye, Usagi-chan. I hope you and Minako-chan have a good time," said Ami, waving at Usagi as she disappeared out the front door. Once alone, she turned back to Rei, "So Rei-chan, what do you want to do?"

"I thought we were going to study," Rei questioned.

"I lied," Ami said with a sheepish smile, "I don't really have anything to study for, so I have a free weekend... that is, if Titanius doesn't get his way."

"I know what you mean," Rei agreed as she began walking over to her room.

Ami stood and followed Rei to her room. Once inside, she looked around to discover that Rei had redecorated her room, adding more classic, antique, and Shinto-related décor. However, her bed and desk as well as her stereo still remained very modern. Rei took her seat on her bed while Ami sat on the chair at Rei's desk.

"Rei-chan, in the time we've known each other, you never once told me you had a brother," said Ami.

"Yes, I'm sorry I never told you guys, but I never talk about my family that much outside of what you see," Rei explained, "Like I said when I first introduced him to you and everyone, he had moved with our Uncle Saki and Aunt Ryeka years before I ever met you."

"Did he ever call you?" Ami curiously asked.

"Are you kidding? Not only did he call anytime he could, but he also visited often," Rei replied, "He had just moved back in with us on the day before he met you and everyone."

"I noticed all his trophies in the living room," said Ami, "I can imagine that Ryo-kun's collection is pretty big too. However, my own collection of academic trophies isn't quite as big as Kyodai-san's."

"Well, that's because he's older than we are and he plays soccer," Rei responded, "So of course he's going to have more trophies. But I've seen yours, and you have a lot of trophies too from all your mock exams and academic competitions."

"Well, Mother is proud of me and likes to show them off to our guests," said Ami. After that, there was a moment of silence between them. Sure, Ami was always mindful of those who posted scores close to hers. In fact, Urawa Ryo's score matching, even beating, hers was what had drawn interest from her. And now, it was Kyodai's rather large collection of trophies that was sparking her interest. And that interest prompted her to break the silence between them. "Hey Rei-chan, can we see them?" she asked.

"Sure, that's why I built the display case and put them there," Rei replied as she stood up from her bed, "C'mon, I'll show you."

They walked out of Rei's room and toward the display case, filled with nearly every soccer trophy, every academic trophy, and award that he had ever won. Ami gazed at the many soccer trophies from the time Kyodai was a kid, admiring their shimmering beauty. She quickly recognized the one he won at Juuban Junior High since it looked similar to the ones displayed at the school. She even noticed his individual achievement and Championship trophies. But what really caught her eye was his entire collection of academic awards and trophies. Many of them, like hers, were 1st place academic trophies and various mock exam awards.

"Wow, your brother was both smart and athletic," Ami said with subtle admiration.

"He still is," said Rei as she turned to walk toward Kyodai's room, "Come with me, there's more."

Ami turned to follow Rei yet kept her eyes on the trophies for a brief second. They walked into Kyodai's fairly clean room. His walls were littered with soccer posters, a couple Sailor V posters, and school spirit items from high school. Ami immediately noticed his cap & gown with his Salutatorian stole as Rei had walked over to one of Kyodai's drawers and pulled out his high school yearbooks. She opened his yearbook from his junior year and turned to the massive soccer pages. She then waved Ami over to her.

"See, Ami-chan, High School Champions," she said as she pointed to the bold print on the page and the picture of the championship team, "I have the ring from his second championship."

"How'd you end up with his second ring?" Ami asked as she took Rei's left hand into hers to examine the ring.

"When the OSA-P was getting the ring sizes for everyone on the team, Kyodai had his sized to fit my finger," Rei explained, "He gave it to me as a gift for being there for him and supporting him so much."

Ami smiled at the sound of Kyodai's thoughtfulness and kindness. "It must be great to have a brother like him," she commented.

Rei pulled her hand from Ami's, closed the yearbook, and grabbed the one from his senior year. She opened it and showed Ami all the organizations and sports Kyodai was involved in, as well as his achievements.

"Wow. Class president, The Emperor's Honor Roll, Kanto Region Honors, National Scholar, and the class Salutatorian. And he played on a champion soccer team on top of all that. He was a true Renaissance man," Ami said in amazement, "You must be really proud of Kyodai."

"Yeah, I've kept track of his progress after he moved away," said Rei, "He may not have lived here, but we still remained close. It may not look like it all the time when he and I are together, but yes, I'm actually quite proud of him."

After admiring Kyodai's early years, Rei and Ami put his yearbooks away and then walked out of his room and back into Rei's room.

After about an hour of girl talk, with Gabianni and Yuuichirou having already arrived home, both Rei's and Ami's communicator started sounding off. Ami was the first to grab hers and turned it on to see Luna's face.

"Ami-chan, Rei-chan, there is a disturbance at Juuban Park," Luna quickly explained, "It seems the Dark Kingdom has sent a youma to terrorize the people. Titanius could be behind this, so I'll be going with you to observe and study him."

"I understand. We'll be there. Do be careful, Luna," Ami replied.

"Titanius again?" Rei commented, "He just doesn't know when to quit."

"I was hoping that he wouldn't ruin our weekend. Let's go," Ami said as they pulled out their henshin pins.

"Mercury, Power, Make-Up!"

"Mars, Power, Make-Up!"

_Juuban Park..._

After having transformed and flown through the Juuban district, Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury prepared themselves for whatever youma had decided to terrorize the people as they approached the park. Since Luna had not given them any details on the youma, all they could do was wonder what was in store for them when they arrived. However, when they did arrive at the park, all they found was a giant crab-like youma. Titanius was nowhere to be seen like Luna had earlier speculated. They also discovered that Sailor Moon was already battling with the giant king crab, so they took their places at her side and called out to the youma.

"Senshi of Water and Wisdom, I am Sailor Mercury!" Sailor Mercury announced, striking her battle pose.

"Senshi of Flame and Passion, I am Sailor Mars!" Sailor Mars also announced, striking a similar battle pose, "We won't let you cause destruction and chaos in this beautiful park."

"In the name of Mercury..." Sailor Mercury began.

"...and in the name of Mars..." Sailor Mars added.

"...you'll be punished!" they finished together.

"Am I glad you guys are here," said Sailor Moon at the sound of her friends' voices.

"Where's Luna?" Sailor Mercury wondered, looking around the park, "She said she was going to be watching this battle."

"Over there by the tree," Sailor Moon replied as she pointed over to a nearby sycamore tree where Luna was witnessing the battle.

Suddenly, as Sailor Moon pointed Luna out to the other two senshi, the large youma lunged at Sailor Moon.

"Sailor Moon, watch out," Sailor Mars exclaimed. She pushed Sailor Moon aside and stood in front of the youma as it charged. The youma quickly grabbed Sailor Mars in its pincer and began to squeeze her like a vise. But Sailor Mars reacted quickly and engulfed her hands in flames. She grabbed its pincer and set it ablaze, causing the youma to release her and wince in pain.

While Sailor Mars was busy with the youma, Sailor Mercury had her goggled donned and her computer out and was studying the creature. "As with any crab-like youma, this one is a water type," she explained, "It tends to find refuge in rivers, lakes, and even oceans. Thunder is its weakness, although I've found fried king crab to be an excellent dish myself."

"Thank you for all that lovely input, Mercury-chan," Sailor Mars sarcastically said, "I always knew my powers would be good for cooking."

"Can I eat it after we kill it?" Sailor Moon ecstatically asked.

"Is food all you ever think about?" Sailor Mars criticized, "We need to vanquish this oversized crab before it causes us any more problems."

"Hey, I'm the leader here, not you," Sailor Moon argued.

"Then act like one and help us defeat it," suggested Sailor Mars.

Suddenly, a beam of light smashed the youma as it was advancing on the bickering duo, sending it flying into the lake. The three senshi turned toward the origin of the beam and found that Sailor Venus and Sailor Jupiter had arrived on the scene.

"Venus-chan, Jupiter-chan," Sailor Moon gleefully said. But neither senshi was paying any attention as they both glanced out toward the lake where the youma ended up splashing into.

"I wonder if I defeated it," said Sailor Venus.

"I doubt it," Sailor Mercury replied, "It thrives in the water."

With that bit of information, Sailor Jupiter stepped forward and in front of Sailor Venus. "If it thrives in the water, then I'll just have to flush it out with a little jolt," she said as an antenna extended from her tiara. She crossed her arms in front of her and a bolt of lightning struck her tiara to charge her attack. "Supreme Thunder!"

She threw her arms forward, launching bolts of deadly lightning into the lake. Its electric power surged throughout the lake as it entered, electrocuting everything in it, including the youma. After jolting it for a few seconds, the youma flew out of the water and landing a hundred meters behind the senshi. As the youma slowly staggered to its feet, Sailor Jupiter dashed over to it. She grabbed a hold one of its pincers and swung it around like she was doing the hammer throw. She then released it, sending it flying into the sycamore tree where Luna was sitting on.

She reacted quickly and bolted down from the tree and away from the flying youma just before it connected. "Sailor Jupiter, would be so kind as to watch where you are throwing?" she kindly scolded.

"Sorry Luna, I didn't know you were over there," said Sailor Jupiter with beads of sweat dripping from her forehead.

"My tiara will be enough to finish it off," Sailor Moon said as she removed her tiara and quickly charged her attack, "Moon Tiara Action!"

She threw her tiara at the fallen youma, striking it in the face and utterly destroying it. "Fried crab, on the house," Sailor Moon yelled to her friends, "Who wants a leg?"

"Sailor Moon, would you stop thinking about food and concentrate on the matter at hand," Sailor Mars demanded, "Luna, why did the gluttonous Usagi have to be the leader? Why not me?"

"Because I stand for love and justice, I'm Sailor Moon, and I'm the Princess," Sailor Moon cut in.

"Yeah right, all you stand for are eating and crying," Sailor Mars argued.

"Am not," Sailor Moon argued back.

"Are too," Sailor Mars retorted.

"Am NOT."

"Are TOO."

"Girls, stop your bickering right this instant," Luna sharply ordered.

Both girls' heads dropped at Luna's rather harsh treatment. "Yes Luna," they said in unison.

"This youma was easy to defeat," Sailor Mercury observed.

"Yeah, a little too easy," Sailor Jupiter agreed, "Why would the Dark Kingdom send in such a weak youma to attack the people, especially when they've been sending in stronger and stronger ones?"

"Who knows, maybe somebody over there lost a few screws," suggested Sailor Venus.

"This is rather unusual behavior from the Dark Kingdom. I'll have to contact Artemis and find out what he thinks," said Luna.

"Well, there's no use in us standing here still in our senshi guises trying to figure it all out," said Sailor Mars, "Ami-chan and I had better be getting back home and... continue our studies." Rei did her best to hide the fact that she and Ami weren't really studying, but rather having some more mellow time together without Usagi's boisterous personality to keep things interesting. So Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury turned and ran back toward the Hikawa Jinja and out of sight.

"Well, I'd better be getting home too," said Sailor Moon as she too turned to leave the park.

"Stay alert Sailor Team," Luna yelled as the rest of the girls headed home.

_The Dark Kingdom..._

Queen Beryl had witnessed the entire battle on the large image projected in front of her by her crystal ball. She personally wanted to see the battle through since she was quite eager to make the Mars Prince one of her minions. However, she growled in anger at the sight of the crab-like youma being easily defeated by the Sailor Senshi. She couldn't bear it anymore and immediately ordered the free-floating image to vanish. "Titanius, get your ass in here. Now!" she immediately yelled loud enough for the whole Dark Kingdom to hear her, causing her many minions lining the walls to cower in fear.

Moments later, Titanius and Kunzite walked into the vast, arguing with one another over something that Queen Beryl was too angry to pay any attention to. "Excuse me, guys," she said, trying to get their attention and stop their bickering. However, Titanius' and Kunzite's arguing only grew louder as they got closer to Queen Beryl's throne.

"HEY!" she screamed, causing the entire of the throne room to quake. All but only a few of her minions in her throne room cowered even more at the volume of her resonant voice. "Oh no, you two are in trouble now," one of her minions teased.

"Yes, it's not nice to piss our Queen Beryl-sama off like that," another random minion added.

Titanius and Kunzite however, abruptly stopped their bickering and gazed at Queen Beryl in fear, their skin pale as a ghost. "Yes, Queen Beryl-sama?" they gasped in unison.

"How the hell could you send such a weak youma?" Queen Beryl said in disappointment, "That youma would've been better off on my dinner plate than in battle."

"With all due respect, Queen Beryl-sama, my intention was to lure Tuxedo Inferno for me to nab him, not to destroy him," Titanius explained.

"You failed your objective, you pathetic excuse for a bounty hunter," Queen Beryl berated, "If I wasn't paying you, I'd severely punish you for carrying out a mission as blatantly pathetic as just now."

"My apologies Queen Beryl-sama, but luring Tuxedo Inferno alone is pure luck." says Titanius.

"Not exactly," Kunzite jumped in, with a light bulb clicking on in his head, "Before we hired you, I use to send soldiers out quite often. And often times, I would attract just the Mars Prince, or Tuxedo Inferno as he calls himself. Even Zoisite once attracted him alone. So it's not pure luck that we get his attention."

"I think I see where you're going," said Titanius, remembering some of the studying he had done on Tuxedo Inferno.

"I say we send in a soldier to do some scouting," suggested Kunzite.

"But how does that attract Tuxedo Inferno?" Titanius questioned, trying to piece together his studies with Kunzite's suggestion.

"He seems to have some kind of 6th sense, like he senses when we're near," says Kunzite, "It's especially true with his connection with that pyromaniac as you had earlier observed. Putting her in great danger almost guarantees an appearance by Tuxedo Inferno."

"But that is not the objective. Titanius is supposed to be luring the Mars Prince without the Sailor Senshi interfering," Queen Beryl interrupted before taking a brief pause, "However, I like do your idea on how to attract Tuxedo Inferno alone. Titanius, Kunzite, send in a soldier to scout around all over Tokyo. He has to be around there somewhere. And keep him inconspicuous so he doesn't get the Sailor Senshi's attention as well"

"You got it Queen Beryl-sama," Kunzite replied, bowing to his queen.

"Actually, Kunzite-kun, we'll send two in succession of one another just in case he defeats the first soldier," Titanius suggested, "He's quite powerful and has shown the ability to defeat our soldiers. If that happens, we'll just use the second one to take him when he's exhausted from killing the first one."

"Very well, Titanius. Carry on," Queen Beryl ordered.

"Yes, Queen Beryl-sama," Titanius replied as he gave her a British salute and turned to leave the throne room.

"This plan sounds a hell of a lot better than Titanius' first pathetic attempt," Queen Beryl said to herself. "With their ingenious plan, the Mars Prince will be as good as ours in no time. I just hope they can succeed in bringing him to me." And with those final thoughts, she filled the entire throne room with her evil laughter, drawing cheers from her many minions lining the walls.

_end of chapter 3_

* * *

Disclaimer: As usual, Sailor Moon and most of the characters ain't mine, but belong to Naoko Takeuchi. And God bless that woman for creating such great entertainment for all of us with a lot of free time on our hands to enjoy. The English dub belongs to DiC Entertainment and Cloverway, and I only thank them for bringing' it to America, nothin' more. But Russell Hino/Hino Kyodai, Tuxedo Inferno, Titanius, and Deanna Kokorono/Kokorono Meijin are MINE (in a growling voice). So, please don't sue me. I'm just a lonely man who ain't got anythang but his pride. Well, y'all enjoy this fanfic and e-mail me.

Have fun Sailor Moon fans,  
Viper Inferno  
(Y2V)


	4. Chapter 4: Tuxedo Turned

Title: Wildfire - Chapter 4

Author: Viper Inferno

Genre: Action Drama

Rated: PG-13

Author's Notes: This is the fourth story in the _**Warrior of Fire Anthology**_. Therefore, I recommend reading Brother of Fire, Five-Alarm Fire, and Forest Fire before reading this fanfic, since they are part of a series and provide quite a bit of the background for this fanfic.

* * *

**Wildfire**

_By Viper Inferno_

Chapter 4: Tuxedo Turned

_Mihama Ward of Chiba City, Physics field trip, the next day..._

In the western part of the Chiba Prefecture, after a sitting through rather long seminar at the Nippon Convention Center, Kyodai was walking with the rest of his rather large 1st year Physics class as they made their way back to their hotel. Although their seminar was supposed to have taken place on Thursday, a massive power outage at the convention center prompted the seminar to be rescheduled for Sunday, a day that they were supposed to have had off before their major Physics lab on Monday. So on his way back to his hotel, he turned to his roommate. "That seminar was just too damn long," he said.

"I agree with you there, Kyodai-kun," his roommate added, "I almost fell asleep numerous times."

"I love Physics, and the concept of electromagnetic induction is just captivating to even talented minds, but I couldn't even sit through that whole seminar. The lecturer was just far too dull in his presentation. They should've at least given us more demonstrations to keep it interesting," Kyodai intelligently said.

"That explains your squirming every five minutes throughout the second half," his roommate pointed out, "And I wanted to go to the beach today too if it wasn't for those damned faulty generators at the convention center. I can't believe that the building's only a few years old and they can't even get the generators to work right during a power outage."

"Well, I myself didn't have any plans today other than studying for my Calculus courses and maybe taking a nice little run toward sunset," said Kyodai.

"You're rather dull, aren't you?" his roommate commented, "You could've at least spent some time with us at the beach."

"You know I was never much into partying at the dorms or hitting the clubs at Roppongi or Shibuya," said Kyodai, "I was always either at a study group or at soccer practice."

"I guess you're right," his roommate surrendered, "But won't this field trip hurt your position on the soccer team?"

"Not at all," Kyodai replied, "Our first game is next Saturday. The coach will let me start if I attend practice everyday next week."

"It's good to have a coach who encourages academics over athletics," said his roommate, "I had a coach back when I was in school in Kasai that didn't care if you had to study for a major test. He also didn't let anyone play who had cram school. At least your coach understands."

"Yeah, he doesn't show it on the field nor before games with his gruff exterior, but he will gladly excuse you from practices for academic purposes," Kyodai explained.

They progressed on toward the hotel, not even bothering to take the bus since no bus in Tokyo or Chiba can handle the over 100 class members in the group. They conversation turned to each of the classes that Kyodai and his roommate were taking. Although they took the same Physics class that everyone else was taking, they had it at different hours. But suddenly, his roommate's eyes widened at the sound of one of Kyodai's honors classes, "Particle Physics!? You're already taking Particle Physics next semester!?"

"Actually, it's one of the 2nd Year classes," Kyodai corrected, "My Physics level upon graduating from high school was very high. Even though I have to take our class as required by the college, my advisor placed me in that class as well as an extra class for this year. I also plan on taking Honors Astrophysics II and Quantum Physics next year."

"Holy shit, Kyodai-kun," his roommate exclaimed, completely muddled, "You're taking all those tough classes, and you're play soccer!?"

"I'm majoring in Physics," Kyodai replied, "I have take everything you know. Besides, I won't be playing soccer all my life."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," his roommate agreed.

...

As they continued to walk along, an odd sense struck Kyodai, turning his attention away from his roommate and the rest of the group. Although most of his odd feelings associated with his ESP were ones of someone in danger, this feeling was more like a presence. He decided to ignore it, easily dismissing it as a common feeling of something supernatural, like a spirit or a ghost. But as he continued on, the feeling struck him again, this time letting him know what kind of presence it was.

'Evil is near, and it's getting stronger' he thought to himself. He then caught back up with his roommate, "I have to take care of something real quick. I'll catch up with you back at the hotel."

"Okay, be careful, and watch for traffic. The drivers here are crazy," his roommate warned. So Kyodai slowly and inconspicuously backed off, not wanting to alarm the rest of his classmates. 'Damn, I can't transform here. There are far too many people around,' he thought to himself, 'I can't find any place to transform in this open walkway.'

After minutes of wandering around aimlessly, fortune came to Kyodai as he spotted a blind alley. He quickly looked all around him, making sure none of the people walking about the area were watching him, and then quietly, but swiftly ducked and slipped into the alley. There, he waited to see if anyone had followed him. He took a peek outside the alley and only found the people proceeding about their business as usual, none taking any notice to him. So he ducked back inside and raised his left hand bearing his obsidian jewel ring in the in the air. And immediately, the ring glowed as flames immediately flew from it and surrounded Kyodai's body. In a short moment, the flames extinguished, revealing Kyodai as Tuxedo Inferno.

He then leaped on top of the 50-foot-tall building and watched as the people still carried on with their walks and his Physics class disappeared around another building. "I'm sorry to bail out on you guys, but evil is near and I must leave," he said under his breath to the now distant class. He turned back and jumped from building to building like an American superhero toward the origin of the strange but evil presence.

It may have been a long trip, but Tuxedo Inferno made it to an open field right on the border of the Chiba Prefecture and Greater Tokyo, where the evil presence felt even stronger. 'I can't believe I sensed an evil presence so far away,' Tuxedo Inferno thought to himself before he began walking about the field, searching for the source of the presence. 'Nothing here. But he's here somewhere, I just know it,' he thought to himself, and then called out, "Alright, show yourself."

Tuxedo Inferno waited rather impatiently before darting off toward a large tree, deciding to use it as a hiding place. But just as he made it to the tree, a dark knight in black and purple armor dropped from the branches of the tree and right in front of Tuxedo Inferno, stopping him dead in his tracks. "So you've arrived Tuxedo Inferno," the soldier taunted.

"Damn right I'm Tuxedo Inferno, warrior of fire and protector of good. In the name of Mars, I will burn you," Tuxedo Inferno responded, taking a fighting stance. And without a moment to waste, the soldier immediately blasted Tuxedo Inferno with a pulse of dark energy, sending him flying into another nearby tree. As Tuxedo Inferno began to slide down the trunk towards the ground, the soldier launched a ball of energy at him, snapping the tree's trunk like a twig and giving Tuxedo Inferno his frequent flyer miles.

"Damn, I should've hit him when he hit the ground," the soldier said to himself, disappointed at his own overpowering performance, "Now Queen Beryl won't get herself another warrior like she wanted." But suddenly, a beam of fire drilled out of the sky and into the chest of the soldier, auguring him in the ground. Tuxedo Inferno dropped out of the sky and made a perfect 10.0 landing. He then ran over to the hole where the soldier was struggling to get up from that powerful beam of fire.

"Surprised that I can take such a thrashing?" Tuxedo Inferno said to the soldier.

"Not really," the soldier replied as he quickly recovered and leaped out of the hole, "In fact, I expected that much from you." Tuxedo Inferno drew his flame sword from his obsidian jewel ring and prepared to strike down the wounded soldier. But, the soldier quickly fired off an energy beam, knocking Tuxedo Inferno's sword from his hand. After a momentary shock from being disarmed, Tuxedo Inferno tried to fire off another one of his attacks, but the soldier was just too quick as he sent Tuxedo Inferno surfing on a wave of dark energy and into a parked semi-truck. Tuxedo Inferno pushed himself back to his feet, only to have the soldier's foot connect with his chin and send him flying over the trailer of the semi-truck.

"It's good," the soldier joked as he raised his arms in celebration.

After enduring another thrashing, Tuxedo Inferno once again rose back to his feet. This time, with the soldier not around, he decided to climb into the cab of the semi-truck from the driver's side. He quickly found the key hidden underneath the sun visor, slid it in the ignition, started the engine, and quickly backed the truck up. He then turned toward where the soldier had knocked his sword away and gunned the accelerator it. Driving the truck was rather easy for Tuxedo Inferno since this particular model had an automatic transmission. The soldier turned to see the truck approaching him rather quickly and leaped out of the way, landing on top of the trailer.

As he neared his destination, the soldier hopped down onto the roof of the cab and hung his torso down in front of the windshield, startling the tuxedoed warrior. But just as the soldier drew his fist back to smash through the glass, Tuxedo Inferno drilled his foot into the brake petal. Instantly, the truck's brakes locked, sending the soldier flying off the hood and rolling on the grassy field. Tuxedo Inferno jumped out of the truck and retrieved his sword, and then walked over to the fallen soldier. "Game Over, Dark Kingdom scum," Tuxedo Inferno said as he raised his sword, gathering fire in its blade.

"Flame Sword, STRIKE!"

He swung his sword with every ounce of physical strength at the soldier, setting him ablaze and thus disintegrating him into ashes. With the soldier gone, Tuxedo Inferno lowered his sword and hung his body down, breathing in and out quite heavily from both the battle and the trip there. Exhausted, he sheathed his sword into his obsidian jewel ring and turned back in the direction from which he entered the battlefield. But just as he took the first step, another soldier suddenly teleported right in front of him. Tuxedo Inferno leaped back in shock, "Oh no, not another one."

"Yes, another one," the soldier replied, "Queen Beryl will be most pleased to see you."

"In your dreams," Tuxedo Inferno retorted as he engulfed his hand in flames and thrust them at the soldier, knocking him back quite a distance. Before the soldier could recover, he threw his arms out to his sides. "Inferno..." he chanted aloud, sending a ball of fire floating above his head, "...Flame!" He waved his arm toward the soldier as he was pushing himself up, sending the fireball flying at him and burning his cape.

"You insensitive prick," the soldier insulted, "You just destroyed my favorite cape." With his anger driving it, the soldier sent a bolt of dark blue lightning surging through Tuxedo Inferno's already badly beaten body. Tuxedo Inferno fell to the ground from the massive jolt, dazed and nearly unable to move. Moments later, he came to from his beating to find Titanius off in the distance staring him down. He immediately jumped up and began to run toward his adversary. But he quickly realized that he was still fighting the second soldier. He stopped and turned to find him running toward his flank.

He jumped out of the dashing soldier's way and quickly drew his flame sword. The soldier stopped and waved his arm at him, throwing numerous knives in his direction. One connected with Tuxedo Inferno's sword and knocked it from his hand. Another slashed through the top of his top hat while another knocked it from his head. Another few knives sliced through his cape as if it didn't exist.

After narrowly dodging the barrage of knives, Tuxedo Inferno ran toward the soldier to engage in hand-to-hand combat. However, the soldier responded to his challenge by stopping him with a force field. Tuxedo Inferno slammed into it with great force, knocking him to the ground and nearly knocking him unconscious. "That's it," Tuxedo Inferno yelled as he recovered and waved his arms about in kung fu fashion, "Inferno Fire, Dance!"

He swiftly danced around the soldier, setting the soldier and the grounds around him ablaze. With very little energy left and breathing heavily, Tuxedo Inferno dropped to his knees. The burning soldier too fell to his knees as Tuxedo Inferno's fiery dance drained much of his energy. But suddenly, a beam of dark energy pierced the soldier's body, dissolving him into ashes.

"I've had it with your games, enough already," Titanius said to the fallen soldier as he began walking toward the weakened Tuxedo Inferno.

'What's he planning?' Tuxedo Inferno thought to himself, 'Something tells me that he's after me specifically.' Tuxedo Inferno stared Titanius down and mustered the last of his strength. "I'm glad you came, Tuxedo Inferno," said Titanius, "Queen Beryl is eager to meet you and sent me to get you."

"In your dreams," Tuxedo Inferno protested as he leaped to his feet and lunged toward his nemesis. But Titanius reacted quickly and zapped Tuxedo Inferno in the face with a vicious dark lightning, thus knocking him unconscious.

"You just had to make this difficult, didn't you," said Titanius as he approached the swooning Tuxedo Inferno, "Come now, Tuxedo Inferno, we wouldn't want to keep Queen Beryl waiting. She can be an awful bitch when things don't go her way." He then grabbed a hold of Tuxedo Inferno's limp body and threw down a smoke bomb, filling much of the open field with thick gray smoke. When it cleared, both men are nowhere to be seen.

_The Dark Kingdom..._

Tuxedo Inferno awoke from the rather harsh beating he had taken from both soldiers and Titanius. As his vision cleared, he found that he wasn't in the Chiba Prefecture, but rather in some odd-looking chamber. The floors, walls, and even ceiling were made of dark gray cobblestone. The room was dimly lit, though enough for him to make out the features of the room, with numerous rather crude and ancient-looking torches. The entire room had the look, feel, and even smell of a medieval dungeon. Tuxedo Inferno tried to move, but found his arms bound in shackles and chained to the wall behind him.

"I see you've come too," said the voice of Titanius, filling the chamber with his voice. And just as his voice had filled the chamber, Tuxedo Inferno saw Titanius walk into the light from a dark corner of the chamber. "Welcome, Tuxedo Inferno, to my private torture chamber," he politely greeted, "It's my second favorite place here."

"And where's your favorite? Behind Beryl's ass, kissing it?" Tuxedo Inferno said sarcastically.

"That's 'Queen' Beryl to you, you bastard," Titanius snarled, "And your humor doesn't impress me any. But be lucky it's just me you're throwing insults at, because Queen Beryl will definitely not find your humor amusing, especially after she gets through with you."

"What kind of trick are you playing, Titanius?" said Tuxedo Inferno, pulling on his chains.

"You'll see when Queen Beryl arrives," Titanius gladly answered.

Just as he had finished that sentence, the door flew open and slammed into the wall, sending a loud bang resonating throughout the ancient chamber and startling both men. Queen Beryl casually walked inside and merely smiled when she discovered that Titanius had brought in the Mars Prince as a special guest. "Ah yes, the great Tuxedo Inferno, in person. I've been looking forward to meeting you," she said in a slightly seductive voice. She turned to Titanius to find him kneeling, with his eyes not meeting hers, "You're dismissed Titanius. The Mars Prince and I have some... issues... to discuss."

"What about my pay?" Titanius challenged, looking up to meet her eyes with his.

"You'll get your bounty, Titanius, as soon as I'm finished here," Beryl responded sharply.

"Yes, Queen Beryl-sama," Titanius replied. He then rose and left the chamber, closing the door behind him on the way out. Satisfied with being left alone, Queen Beryl turned back to Tuxedo Inferno. "You know why you're here in my custody, don't you Tuxedo Inferno," she said to him.

"Obviously, you're keeping me as your prisoner," Tuxedo Inferno replied, "And besides, I thought you were after the Sailor Team."

"Wrong there my pyromaniac," Queen Beryl corrected, "But you are right about my interest in the Sailor Team. And that's why I've brought you here." Queen Beryl then began to pace about the room, thinking back to past events, past observations, and especially the information that Titanius had gathered on him. "I've been watching you fight alongside the Sailor Team," she said as she continued to pace about the chamber, "It seems that they don't trust you."

"That's not exactly true," said Tuxedo Inferno.

Queen Beryl then swiftly turned and stomped toward him, stopping within inches of his face, "Tell me Tuxedo Inferno, of all the times you battled alongside them, trying to be a Good Samaritan, do you even know why it is you fight alongside them when they don't even know who you are or trust you?"

"I help those in danger, including the legendary Sailor Senshi," Tuxedo Inferno replied.

"And in doing so, you defeated my youmas, my soldiers, and even my bounty hunter," said Queen Beryl.

"I merely assisted the Sailor Team in defeating them," said Tuxedo Inferno.

"And never once did they ever thank you for it," said Queen Beryl as she turned her back to him.

"Actually, they have," he corrected.

Queen Beryl swiftly turned and yelled in his face, "That's what you think!" Tuxedo Inferno didn't even flinch at her display of frustration, but only proudly looked her in the eye. "They may have thanked you for using your great powers to help them, but under that cloak, there's a dagger. They will never trust you as long as they don't know you," she continued.

"Oh, and I suppose you know who I am," Tuxedo Inferno said sarcastically.

"Actually, I know you're of the planet Mars and that your powers of fire come from that guardian planet. But beyond that, in time, you will find out who you are," said Queen Beryl.

"What do you mean by that?" Tuxedo Inferno asked.

"I mean that I brought you here to serve me in ridding us of those Senshi," Queen Beryl answered.

"Like hell I'll ever serve you," Tuxedo Inferno growled.

"Oh you won't now, will you? You know they don't trust you. You know they'll never accept your superior abilities. And you know that they just use you make them look good. Now tell me, does that make you furious?" said Queen Beryl.

Tuxedo Inferno felt the fires within him burning throughout his body at the sound of the Sailor Team not trusting him. Deep down inside, he felt empty and unaccepted. He was a superhero with no known origin. He didn't even know who he was or why he had this power. So why should the Sailor Team trust him? Queen Beryl had certainly hit a soft spot within him. "A little, but its all lies," he replied, shaking his head in denial.

"Then you'll be a great asset to this Dark Kingdom," said Queen Beryl, a little more calmly.

"I won't help you. Not in destroying the Sailor Team," Tuxedo Inferno growled.

Queen Beryl only lowered her eyebrows at him, bringing her face within inches of his. "Oh, you will. Trust me, you will serve me," she said in a deep voice. She then held her hands around both sides of his head and began to zap him with lightning. In doing so, she began to probe his mind with her evil powers. "I know you have some feelings against the Sailor Team buried deep within you. Let's strengthen those feelings, shall we?" she said.

...

Within moments, the room all around Tuxedo Inferno went dark and Queen Beryl along with it. And suddenly, lightning flashed, its light revealing Sailor Jupiter standing atop a large rocky spire. However, she looked very different than the many times he had seen her. She was wearing a black and green sailor suit with dark gray hosiery on her legs and arms. She wore an evil grin on her face as she stared him down. "This is what I do to those whom I hate and who stand in my way," she yelled. She then waved her arms to her sides as lightning struck her tiara. She then began laughing maniacally as she blasted him with deadly bolts of lightning.

And as the bolts struck him, everything disappeared around him. He then saw Sailor Venus walking toward him. But like Sailor Jupiter, she also had a very different look to her. She wore a black bow in her hair, black eye shadow, black lipstick, black fingernail polish, and pale face makeup. She looked more like a Gothic vampire than the Sailor Venus he knew. She held a wicked-looking cat-o-nine-tails in her left hand and an old dentist's drill in her right hand. As she approached him, she whipped him across the face with the cat-o-nine-tails, striking him with a sharp, stinging pain. She then smiled as she held the dentist's drill near his face, turned it on, and brought it within inches of his lips. "Is it safe?" she said maniacally, laughing at his misery with pure insanity.

"Noooo!" he screamed as the tip of the drill barely touched his lips, and everything went black again. Then suddenly, a figure wearing a black hooded robe appeared before him. The figure snapped its fingers, and many demons and monsters began running at him. They quickly surrounded him as the cloaked figure approached him. With its right hand, it pulled the hood back, revealing the face of none other than Sailor Mars, with her hair flowing as if being blown by some supernatural wind. As the monsters nipped at him, she clapped her hands and threw them out to her sides, setting all of the monsters ablaze. She then looked back at Tuxedo Inferno with an evil grin on her face. "Listen to the fires, my fiery little friend," she said like a soothsayer, "Do you know what they tell you, hmm? They're saying DIE IN THE NAME OF MARS. HA HA HA HAH HAAAAAAHHHH!" She laughed at him maniacally as the scene went dark again.

This time, he found himself lying on a bed with a large, bright light shining in his face. In the background, he heard a heart monitor beeping. He immediately knew that he was lying on a hospital bed, and apparently in an operating room. He looked around, finding many demon-like figures wearing hospital masks. He then spotted Sailor Mercury, also dressed as a surgeon, but not even masked. In her right hand, she held a rather jagged scalpel. "I know I'm not a surgeon," she said modestly, but then changed her tone, "But I am today. And today's operation: frontal lobotomy, Mua Ha Hah HAAAHHHH." She showed great pleasure in her insanity as she lowered the jagged scalpel toward his sweating forehead. The bright light in his face suddenly went out, causing everything to go black around him.

And just as everything had gone dark, he found himself standing again and tied to a stake. Sailor Moon appeared before him, dressed in a black robe. She held a whip in one hand and a torch in the other. She merely stared him down, with her eyes glowing bright red, and began flogging him a dozen times, striking devastating pain. She then walked up to him, "In the name of the Moon, you'll be punished." She then dropped the torch at his feet, setting the brush under him ablaze as she laughed maniacally. "Burn in your own fire," she screamed, with Tuxedo Inferno screaming in bloody horror.

...

Soon, the fires extinguished and Sailor Moon's image quickly transformed into Queen Beryl's. "You see Tuxedo Inferno, they'll never trust you," she explained, "They're just ticking time bombs waiting to go off. They're a Pandora's Box, waiting to unleash all evil upon you. They are a threat to us, and especially to you. They must be quickly dealt with before they turn on you."

Tuxedo Inferno fell unconscious with the hallucination fresh in his mind. He awoke a half-hour later with a rather odd look in his face. "I see that revelation took a lot out of you," Queen Beryl said as she emerged from the dark corner of the chamber and walked toward him, "I guess Titanius took a lot out of you in order to bring you here." She then held her arms out to her sides and summoned her evil energy. "Now Tuxedo Inferno, with the right motive in place, I will make you mine," she said as she sent the energy surging through Tuxedo Inferno's body. Tuxedo Inferno screamed in agony as the evil energy surged through him, prompting the images from his recent hallucination to flash in his mind. After the surging stopped, Tuxedo Inferno looked back up at Queen Beryl.

He immediately noticed the difference in his appearance alone. His tuxedo had a lot of black trim. His mask was adorned with a black jewel between his eyes. His bow was replaced with a gold-trimmed black jewel. He wore golden epaulettes similar to Kunzite's on his shoulders. And the inside liner of his cape was black instead of purple. He then took a look at his obsidian jewel ring to find that it was adorned a gold crescent moon with a skull on it. He then grinned in approval and turned back to Queen Beryl. "Those Sailor Senshi are as good as mine," he said.

"Perfect," she replied as she waved her open palm in front of him, releasing Tuxedo Inferno from his chains, "Now that I have you under my control, let's see what you can do with all that energy of yours. Follow me." Queen Beryl turned and made her way out of the chamber, with Tuxedo Inferno following close behind. They marched down the halls of the Dark Kingdom, eventually arriving at a rather mechanical-looking door. Queen Beryl waved her arm, opening the door with her powers, and walked inside. There, the duo stumbled upon a large band of the Dark Kingdom's soldiers.

"Alright you bunch of good for nothings," Queen Beryl snarled, getting their attention, "Your mission is to attack Tuxedo Inferno here with all your might."

All 30 soldiers immediately jumped up, some drawing their swords. As they advanced toward Tuxedo Inferno, she leaned toward him and whispered into his ear, her voice still being made out to some of the soldiers, "Alright, take them out."

Tuxedo Inferno immediately threw his arm across his body, with his two fingers by his ear, "Inferno Blaze..." He then swung his arm out toward the advancing soldiers, "...Wall!" He sent a powerful wall of fire rushing at the group of soldiers, knocking them all back. He then waved his arms around, displaying his adeptness at martial arts, "Inferno Fire, DANCE!" He swiftly danced around half of the soldiers, setting them ablaze and even destroying a few of them.

"Yes, YES! That's it, burn them. Burn them, my little pyromaniac," Queen Beryl said gleefully, taking great pleasure in watching him burn everything. Tuxedo Inferno drew his flame sword and quickly finished of the rest of the troops. "You fight well, Tuxedo Inferno. You have earned your place in the Dark Kingdom. Now I expect you to do the same to those pesky Sailor Senshi," she said, "Now follow me." She turned away from the burning bodies and left the soldiers' chamber, with Tuxedo Inferno obediently following close behind her. They soon arrived at Queen Beryl's throne room. Tuxedo stopped in the middle of the room and kneeled toward the throne as Queen Beryl took her place. She sat down looked about the throne room. "Is that the Mars Prince we so feared?" said one of the many minions lining her throne room walls

"Is he really one of us now?" another random minion asked.

"I wonder what Queen Beryl-sama has planned for him," said another minion.

As Queen Beryl looked around, she discovered that amongst her minions, her 4 Shitennou were nowhere to be found. In fact, only her bounty hunter, Titanius, kneeled toward her next to her throne. "Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoisite, Kunzite, get your asses in here," Queen Beryl angrily ordered.

"Oh no, they're in trouble now," a random minion

Seconds later, all 4 Shitennou burst into the throne room, breathing quite heavily and sweating quite profusely. They soon regained their composure and bowed before Queen Beryl. "You called for us, Queen Beryl-sama," said Kunzite.

"We have ourselves a powerful new ally in our quest to revive our Great Leader," said Queen Beryl, "The Mars Prince has decided to join us after a little persuasion. So Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoisite, step forward."

The three Shitennou obediently stepped forward and kneeled before Queen Beryl.

"You three have completed your task concerning the Mars Prince, although not quite in the fashion I would've liked. However, because of your past and recent failures, you three are no longer of any use to me," she said. The 3 Shitennou swiftly stood looked at her in shock and dispute. "What?!" Jadeite exclaimed.

Queen Beryl grabbed her crystal ball and pointed it at Jadeite, "Jadeite, it's back to your eternal sleep you go." She fired a dark blue beam of energy at the shocked Shitennou. "NOOOOO!" he yelled as he dematerialized and teleported inside of a large crystal. She then snapped her fingers and the crystal encasing Jadeite sunk into the ground and out of site.

She then turned to Nephrite, "It's back to the grave for you, Nephrite. And let's not forget about showing you the human you so fell in love with when you last died." She waved her hand around her crystal ball and projected an image of Naru in front of Nephrite. And just as he gazed upon her image, the grim reaper appeared behind him. The reaper laid his hand on Nephrite's shoulder, causing him to instantly fall dead. With 2 useless Shitennou exterminated, Queen Beryl then turned to Zoisite. "And as for you, Zoisite, I'll just leave you to Titanius," she said, turning to face Titanius, "Titanius, rid us of this useless heap of rubbish."

"Yes, Queen Beryl-sama," Titanius replied as he rose and faced the shocked Zoisite. He then charged up a devastating ball of dark energy. Zoisite quickly turned to Kunzite for help, "Do something, Kunzite-kun."

"I'm sorry, Zoisite-kun. I want to help you, I want you by my side, but I can't defy Queen Beryl-sama, but your time here ended when you disobeyed her and tried to kill Prince Endymion," said Kunzite. As he finished his last sentence, Titanius blasted Zoisite with a powerful beam of dark energy.

"But I thought you loved maaeeeee," Zoisite screamed before he vaporized.

"Kunzite, you're still of use to me," said Queen Beryl.

He politely bowed to her in response, "Thank you, Queen Beryl-sama."

"I still need you to both gather energy for our Great Leader and to steal the Silver Crystal," Queen Beryl explained. She then turned back to Titanius. "And as for you, Titanius," she said as she pulled out a bundle of gold coins and precious jewels and tossed it to him, "Here's half of your pay. I could still use a warrior like you. Tuxedo Inferno's going to need some sort of training, so I want you to be his handler. You will assist him in his conquest against the Sailor Team."

"The honor is mine, Queen Beryl-sama," Titanius gladly said, giving her a British salute.

"Perfect! With Tuxedo Inferno on our side, along with the bounty hunter and the greatest Shitennou, that Princess and her meddlesome Sailor Senshi are as good as dead," said Queen Beryl. All in the room, except Tuxedo Inferno, filled the halls with their evil laughter.

_Game Center Crown, the next day..._

After having endured the trials and tribulations of school, Usagi and Minako had met up in the Juuban Shopping Center and decided to pay a visit to the Game Center Crown. After greeting Motoki at the door, Minako took Usagi to the Sailor V game. And there, the pitted themselves against each other in a rather grueling game. Although they were playing the game in 2-player co-op mode, their goal was to try to outscore each other until they both run out of lives. So Usagi and Minako took to the game rather aggressively, giving few hints as to their mastery of the game. Each tried to overcome the other's score in many ways, mostly by dispatching an enemy right before the other could.

However, as aggressively as they tried to outscore each other, concentrating purely on killing more enemies rather than watching their backs, both girls ended up losing all their lives by the middle of the second level, with Minako handily outscoring Usagi. "Ha! Never mess with the real Sailor V," Minako gloated briefly, "You want to try again?"

"Sure," Usagi replied as she dropped in another coin, "I'm gonna beat you this time and prove I'm better than your Sailor V."

"We'll see, Usagi-chan," said Minako as she dropped her coin in and pressed the 2-player button, "You'll be eating your words once I'm done with you."

Having let the countdown run to zero before inserting their coins, they started off back at level 1. Once again, both girls aggressively took to the game, desperately trying to outscore each other. Halfway through level 1, Minako came up with an innovation, 'If I just hold out and stop trying to overcome her, maybe I'll beat her," she thought to herself. So Minako backs off and takes a more conservative route, letting Usagi put herself in harms way with her aggressive tactics. As the level progressed, it proved to be working as Usagi lost one life, which allowed Minako to score a number of kills and quickly catch up to Usagi before Usagi's character reappeared.

However, her success didn't last for very long. While going with the flow, watching Usagi endanger herself with aggressive and risky maneuvers, Minako had forgotten to watch her own back and ended up losing all of her lives by the middle of the second level. "Eat my words, huh?" Usagi boasted as she continued playing the game.

"Oh, well," Minako casually surrendered, "I guess trying to be less aggressive backfired." Not content with watching Usagi continue playing alone, Minako dropped in another coin before her countdown reached zero. "I'm gonna jump back in, Usagi-chan," she said, "We'll do a real co-op this time."

"Sounds good to me," Usagi replied, not even breaking her attention from the game. Minako joined back in the game and tried a little Sailor Senshi team tactic. Instead of using the co-op mode to try and overcome each other, both girls worked together like true Sailor Senshi, watching each others backs as they dispatched the enemies. Their teamwork helped them to triumph, as both girls made it to Level 10 before losing all their lives.

"Great game, Minako-chan," Usagi praised.

"Yes it was," Minako agreed as she stood and backed away from the game. "I'm finished here. Do you wanna go somewhere else?"

"Sure. The park sounds great to me," said Usagi as they turned and made their way toward the door. But just as they walked out the door, Mamoru suddenly appeared from seemingly nowhere and collided rather hard with Usagi. Usagi fell against Minako, while Mamoru stumbled backward a few steps. "Hey, why don't you watch where you're going, Odango Atama?" he said rather sharply.

"Oh yeah," Usagi challenged, "You were the one who ran into me."

"Usagi-chan, he's not worth it," Minako said as she held the furious Usagi by the sides of her shoulders, lightly pulling her away from Mamoru. Mamoru himself only turned away and casually walked inside the arcade.

As he disappeared from view, Usagi gave up on arguing with him and turned back to Minako. "Why does he always have to be such a bully?" Usagi asked, "Why can't he remember his past like we have and remember about the love we had?"

"I know, Usagi-chan, I know," Minako sympathized, "Come on, forget about him and let's go to the park." So both girls turned away from the Game Center Crowns and made their way toward the park. However, before they could round the first corner, their communicators began to sound a vibrant reveille. Usagi quickly grabbed hers and became the first to respond. "Yes Luna?" she said after pressing the button.

"Sorry, Usagi-chan, wrong cat," Artemis's voice replied as his image appeared on the screen, "There's an unusual event going on in Shiba Koen. I don't have all the details yet. Go investigate, but be careful."

"You got it," Usagi responded with enthusiasm. She placed her communicator back into her pocket and ran toward the nearest alleyway with Minako. Once assured that they were hidden from inquisitive eyes, Minako grabbed her henshin pen while Usagi raised her brooch in the air.

"Venus Power, Make-Up!"

"Moon Prism, Power, Make-Up!"

After transforming into their Senshi forms, they quickly jumped with amazing strength onto the roof of the building and began to run toward Shiba Koen. Their building hopping drew the attention, and the cheers and cat calls, from many of the people walking the streets of Juuban. "Isn't it great to be a star?" Sailor Venus boasted, speaking for both her and Sailor Moon.

"Yes it is," Sailor Moon replied as they continued making their way toward Shiba Koen with Senshi-enhanced speed. And with such speed, they arrived at the nearby Shiba Koen in a matter of minutes. But with little intelligence to go by except for some unusual activity, the two senshi decided to hide behind a wall overlooking the streets below. There, they glanced around the streets, only to find a single soldier destroying cars and firing energy blasts at the police.

"I knew the Dark Kingdom was behind it," said Sailor Moon, "Just look how easily he's blasting those police cars. They don't even stand a chance."

"Well I hate to say it, but that's what they get for trying to tangle with something that they can't handle," Sailor Venus responded, referring to the police.

However, as they glanced about the area, what really grabbed their attention wasn't the soldier clobbering the police, but rather a figure who had become all too familiar to them. The figure merely stood in the middle of the street and watched on as the soldier did his dirty work. His long black hair waved in the wind, as did his long red cape.

"Not Titanius again," said Sailor Moon, "Does he ever learn when to give up?"

"And he's gone back to making direct attacks against large numbers of people just like everyone else in the Dark Kingdom," said Sailor Venus.

So both Sailor Senshi leaped over the wall of the building's roof and dropped the long way down to the pavement, landing close to the soldier. They decided to ignore Titanius and face the soldier. "Stop right there," demanded Sailor Moon, drawing many cheers from the police and grabbing the soldier's attention.

"The police are here to serve and protect the citizens of Tokyo and uphold the law, and we won't stand for evil scum like you bringing pain and misery upon Tokyo's finest."

"Speak for yourself," Sailor Venus retorted.

"Even the stars of Police Academy, Beverly Hills Cop, and Robocop are mad," she continued before striking her trademark battle pose, "For love and justice, a sailor-suited pretty soldier, Sailor Moon."

"Soldier of love and beauty, Sailor Venus," said Sailor Venus, also striking her battle pose.

"In the name of the Moon, you'll be punished," said the duo, pointing at the soldier.

However, Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus weren't alone. Just as she had finished her trademark intro, the other 3 Sailor Senshi joined her and Sailor Venus, drawing even more cheers from the police. Sailor Moon turned around to meet them while Sailor Venus rushed at the soldier. "Oh, you guys are here, great," she said gleefully.

As grateful as the other senshi were to be there, Sailor Mars only hung her head in disappointment, with a sweat drop hanging, "Sailor Moon, will you stop lollygagging with us and help us attack that soldier," she said before launching herself into the air.

"Umm, okay," Sailor Moon reluctantly replied as she turned back to the soldier.

"Go Sailor Moon," one of the policemen cheered as another whistled at her.

'Yes, it does feel great to be a star,' Sailor Moon thought to herself as she rushed to assist her friends with the soldier. "Go, get out of here," she yelled to the police, "This could get ugly."

She and the other 4 senshi completely surrounded the soldier while the police hopped back into their cars and backed off from the fight.

"Good thinking, Sailor Moon," Sailor Mercury praised.

"Yeah, for once," Sailor Mars added.

"Hey, I don't want any more police defeated by this monster," said Sailor Moon, "We all know that our battles with these soldiers and Titanius cause all kinds of damage."

"She's right, Sailor Mars," said Sailor Jupiter, "These guys do know how to trash a place to get to us or the people."

"So let's defeat this guy before he causes any more damage," Sailor Moon rallied as she grabbed her Moon Stick, "Compared to Titanius, he's only a pushover."

She aimed her Moon Stick at the soldier as the other senshi charged up their attacks.

"Shabon Spray!"

"Fire Soul!"

"Supreme Thunder!"

"Crescent Beam!"

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

With their combined attacks striking the soldier in unison, it easily fell to its knees and crumbled into ashes. However, the ease of this battle struck the senshi as peculiar, especially for Sailor Mercury. "Somehow, I have a feeling that this soldier was too much of a pushover," the Senshi of Water commented.

"I agree," said Sailor Venus, "Despite the damage he was causing, that was the weakest soldier we've ever defeated."

Suddenly, the sound of slow clapping interrupted the Senshi's thoughts. They all turned toward its origin to find Titanius walking slowly toward them, applauding their rather easy victory. "Very good, Sailor Team. It's good to see that you're all here to join my party, just like I planned it. Now that you've properly warmed up, you get to meet my four horsemen."

"What? He drew us here on purpose?!" Sailor Moon exclaimed.

"What for?" Sailor Venus wondered.

"Something about this doesn't feel right," said Sailor Mars, "I sense a very dark aura about this place. He's up to something."

Before the Sailor Senshi could even conjure a reason behind Titanius' actions, four dark and morbid-looking knights on horseback burst from a dark portal behind Titanius and rushed toward the 5 Sailor Senshi, with their spiked flails swinging.

"I've got them," said Sailor Mars as she clasped her hands together and charged her attack, "Fire Soul!"

She hurled a large ball of fire at the horsemen, singeing the armor of two of them and completely missing the other two. However, her attack proved to be ineffective as one of the horsemen kicked her back toward another, allowing him to send her flying with a well-placed blow to her back with his flail.

"Damn, these guys are tough," said Sailor Jupiter.

"I knew that last soldier was too easy," said Sailor Venus.

Sailor Moon, however, only removed her tiara and launched it at one of the horsemen as it charged at her. He easily dodged the tiara and plowed into Sailor Moon, knocking her to the ground and causing her to roll for quite a distance.

"Sailor Moon!" Sailor Mercury gasped.

"I've had enough of this," Sailor Jupiter yelled as she crossed her arms in front of her and extended her antenna from her tiara. Lightning struck it, charging her body with ferocious electricity, "Supreme Thunder!"

Sailor Jupiter threw her arms out to her sides, sending lightning surging all around her, striking all 4 horsemen with deadly accuracy and bringing their horses to their knees. Sailor Jupiter stood in the aftermath of her attack, breathing heavily and with her arms still extended out to her sides. "That'll teach you not to mess with my friends," Sailor Jupiter scolded.

A mocking belly laugh from Titanius was the only response to Sailor Jupiter's savage attack, "You think you've won this battle, Sailor Team? Well, think again, because I have a wonderful surprise for you." He then turned over his shoulder toward the top of a nearby building and gave a rather peculiar hand signal. And as quickly as Titanius gave the signal, a massive wave of fire blasted the 4 weakened horsemen, disintegrating them.

The 5 senshi turned in the direction of the fire's origin and find none other than a familiar figure in a maroon tuxedo and top hat, standing on top of a building with his cape waving in the wind.

"It's Tuxedo Inferno," said Sailor Venus.

"Yeah. But somehow, he looks different," a doubtful Sailor Mercury commented, immediately noticing the changes in his appearance, "I'd better take a look at him." She tapped her earring and donned her goggles to scan Tuxedo Inferno. But just as she began scanning him, Tuxedo Inferno leaped down from the building, landing between them and Titanius and starring them down.

"I am Tuxedo Inferno, warrior of fire and advocate of darkness. In the name of the Mars, I will burn you in hell," he said in a deep, dark voice.

"I knew it!" Sailor Jupiter yelled as rushed at him and rammed into him with bone-crushing force, sending him flying through the air and landing next to Titanius. "I knew you were an agent of the Dark Kingdom."

"Wait a minute. Mars is my guardian planet too, but I don't know anything about him," Sailor Mars commented, "Could he be lying about that, or did Mars have some kind of dark entity?"

"It doesn't matter, Sailor Mars, just get him!" Sailor Jupiter yelled.

The senshi all complied and ran toward Tuxedo Inferno, completely ignoring Titanius. However, the sight of the 5 legendary Sailor Senshi didn't faze Tuxedo Inferno as he waved his arms in a display of kung fu.

"Inferno Fire Beam!" he yelled as he thrust his palms at the 5 senshi, sending a beam of fire into the heart of their formation and giving all 5 of them their frequent flyer miles. Sailor Mercury flew through a store window, bowling over a few manikins. Sailor Mars landed in the back seat of a convertible with its top down. Sailor Venus landed on top of a light post. Sailor Moon fell through an open manhole in the street. However, Sailor Jupiter landed in the middle of the street and quickly recovered from the blast.

"You hurt my friends, you bastard," she yelled, "We trusted you, and you betrayed us. Now, in the name Jupiter, I'm gonna make you pay for deceiving us. Supreme Thunder!" She sent another ferocious surge of lightning slamming into his body, sending him through the wall of the building right next to Titanius.

"Damn you bitch," Titanius yelled. Tuxedo Inferno struggled to emerge from the man-shaped hole in the wall and prepared to counter Sailor Jupiter's ferocious attack with one of his own.

"Enough, Tuxedo Inferno," said Titanius, stopping Tuxedo Inferno, "You've done enough to prove yourself to them for today. They'll certainly be weak with distraught after today. So you'll get your chance to kill them another day," Tuxedo Inferno only nodded in reply and joined Titanius at his side. Titanius then threw a smoke bomb to the ground, enveloping both men in a thick screen of smoke. When it cleared, both were gone.

The senshi emerged from where they landed and jogged over to Sailor Jupiter. Sailor Moon, however, only stood in awe, nearly coming to tears, as what had just happened raced through her mind. "He turned on us," she gasped, "He helped us all those times, he was so great to us, and he turned on us. I was beginning to like him and he turned on us."

"You should've listened to me," said Sailor Jupiter, "It was all a ruse, but I wasn't fooled. He was just helping us out to study us so he could turn on us."

"Somehow, he didn't seem to like what he was doing," said Sailor Moon.

"I don't know how you can see that, but you can't prove it. He appeared to be enjoying it to me," Sailor Jupiter argued.

"Let's go home," suggested Sailor Mars, "I'll do a fire reading and see what I find out about him."

Disappointed, Sailor Moon walked with the others, distraught over an apparent new friend turning on her and her friends. 'There's got to be something going on with him. He couldn't have turned on us just like that. And I was actually beginning to trust him a little more, and so were Ami-chan and Minako-chan,' she thought to herself.

_The Dark Kingdom..._

Titanius and Tuxedo Inferno arrived at the Dark Kingdom and marched down the halls toward Queen Beryl's throne room. The good news he had in store for her made Titanius smile with glee. However, Tuxedo Inferno wasn't as cheerful as he marched alongside Titanius with a rather stern and serious look on his face. Moments later, the duo arrived at Queen Beryl's throne room and kneeled down before her. "Mission accomplished, Queen Beryl-sama," said Titanius, "Tuxedo Inferno has stated his intentions to the Sailor Team. We knew they were beginning to trust him. But now that he's shown them that he's one of us, it'll crush their spirits and weaken their motivation."

"That's good, Titanius, but you should've taken advantage of that today and defeated all 5 of them," Queen Beryl scolded, "How could you have let Sailor Jupiter blast Tuxedo Inferno with lightning? And why did you stop the fight right there and not let Tuxedo Inferno finish her off?

"My apologies, Queen Beryl-sama. It was my fault that Tuxedo Inferno took that hit. We will try harder next time," Titanius replied.

"You had better. I expect you to not hold back against the Sailor Team in your next battle. Don't even think about holding back, understood?" Queen Beryl scolded.

"Yes, Queen Beryl-sama," both men replied.

"Good, then we will soon begin on our other plans against the Sailor Team," said Queen Beryl.

She then turned to Tuxedo Inferno, "Tuxedo Inferno, you are free to operate outside the Dark Kingdom. Since you're used to living in their world, you'll be of much better use to us continuing to live on the outside. Use that 6th sense of yours and know when the Senshi show up."

"Yes Queen Beryl-sama," Tuxedo Inferno replied as he rose and bowed to her. He then turned around and left the throne room and made his way down the halls.

"Is this what I was meant to be?" he asked himself as he walked toward the teleporter room, and thus his exit from the Dark Kingdom, "What if this isn't right? What if Queen Beryl is wrong?"

He then thought of his dream from days earlier, "I don't remember about being from the Dark Kingdom in my dreams. Maybe I'm just going crazy, or maybe I'm not really supposed to be of the Dark Kingdom."

Moments later, Tuxedo Inferno arrived at the teleporter room. There, he lifted his obsidian jewel ring in the air and transformed back into his civilian form. Then, he left the Dark Kingdom and reappeared back at his hotel in Chiba City. He entered his room, finding his roommate fast asleep, and plopped down on the bed, thinking about the whole day's ordeal. 'What happens to me now?' he wondered, 'What happens to the life I have here? What happens to my dreams and aspirations?'

"Is that you, Kyodai-kun?" his roommate mumbled, still half-asleep.

"Yeah, it's me," Kyodai replied, "I just got back after my errand and a rather long walk around the city."

"You'd better get some sleep," suggested his roommate, "We have that big lab tomorrow."

"I'll try," Kyodai reluctantly replied, hiding the recent ordeal he had went through. 'Well, I've lived my life as both me and as Tuxedo Inferno for this long, wondering about who I was and why I had this power, and it hasn't affected my life that much so far,' Kyodai thought to himself, 'Whatever happens, I still have to live my life here.' And that was his final thought as he slowly drifted to sleep.

_end of chapter 4  
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Disclaimer: As usual, Sailor Moon and most of the characters ain't mine, but belong to Naoko Takeuchi. And God bless that woman for creating such great entertainment for all of us with a lot of free time on our hands to enjoy. The English dub belongs to DiC Entertainment and Cloverway, and I only thank them for bringing' it to America, nothin' more. But Russell Hino/Hino Kyodai, Tuxedo Inferno, Titanius, and Deanna Kokorono/Kokorono Meijin are MINE (in a growling voice). So, please don't sue me. I'm just a lonely man who ain't got anythang but his pride. Well, y'all enjoy this fanfic and e-mail me.

Have fun Sailor Moon fans,  
Viper Inferno  
(Y2V)


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